Wilder lands Chisora fight for April 4th |
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It was announced late Friday that heavyweights Deontay Wilder (pictured) and Derek Chisora will do battle at the O2 Arena in London on April 4th. When the bruising heavyweights clash in a little over nine weeks time, it will be the 100 combined fights between Wilder and Chisora, with each guy having 50 apiece. Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs), the former WBC heavyweight champion, snapped a two-fight losing streak in [a low-level comeback], stopping Tyrrell Herndon by seventh-round TKO at the end of June. Now, he looks to put together back-to-back wins against one of England's top heavyweights in the last 15 years. Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs) is [no spring chicken either but ] is on a career resurgence, having won three consecutive fights over Gerald Washington, Joe Joyce, and Otto Wallin, respectively.
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Wilder lands Chisora fight for April 4th
It was announced late Friday that heavyweights Deontay Wilder (pictured) and Derek Chisora will do battle at the O2 Arena in London on April 4th. When the bruising heavyweights clash in a little over nine weeks time, it will be the 100 combined fights between Wilder and Chisora, with each guy having 50 apiece. Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs), the former WBC heavyweight champion, snapped a two-fight losing streak in [a low-level comeback], stopping Tyrrell Herndon by seventh-round TKO at the end of June. Now, he looks to put together back-to-back wins against one of England's top heavyweights in the last 15 years. Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs) is [no spring chicken either but ] is on a career resurgence, having won three consecutive fights over Gerald Washington, Joe Joyce, and Otto Wallin, respectively.
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ProBox Results from Maryland |
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Bryan Flores W10 Starling Castillo... Junior welterweight Bryan “Nino Maravilla” Flores scored a ten-round majority decision over Starling “El Poli” Castillo in the main event of ProBoxTV’s “The Contender Series” from the Live! Casino Hotel Maryland in Hanover, Maryland. After a slow first two rounds, Flores (28-1-1, 16 KOs) of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, began to pressure Castillo (20-2-1, 13 KOs), working his way inside the Dominican southpaw’s longer arms to hammer the body and sap his strength. Round after round, Castillo had fewer answers to deal with Flores, who stepped it up and battered him around the ring. By the final rounds, Castillo seemed to be in survival mode from the onslaught. The scores of 95-95 draw, overruled by 98-92 and 96-94 Flores, were not a clear indication of the dominance Flores enjoyed throughout the contest. For instance, he outlanded Castillo 163-76 in power punches.
Rene Palacios W10 Sulaiman Segawa... In the ten-round co-feature, Rene “El Zurdo” Palacios (19-0-1, 10 KOs) Nuevo Casas Grandes, Mexico, scored an upset split decision over featherweight contender Sulaiman Segawa (18-6-1, 7 KOs) of Silver Spring, Maryland, via Uganda.Segawa landed more punches overall 180-177. Both southpaws could make a case for winning in the end, but the judges favored Palacios’ work by scores of 99-91 Palacios, 97-93 Palacios and an over-ruled 96-94 Segawa. Palacios was the better fighter on the inside while Segawa relied on his well-placed punches from range. Although there were no knockdowns, Segawa was cut on the right eye in round four and Palacios finished the fight with a swollen-closed right eye.
UNDERCARD RESULTS
The show was presented by Lamont Roach Sr (NoXcuse Promotions) and broadcast on ProBox TV, Local favorite Francois “The Franchise” Scarboro Jr. (12-0, 9 KOs) of nearby Cheverly, Maryland, won a ten-round slugfest by way of unanimous decision over Brandon Valdes (15-7, 7 KOs) of Rosemead, California, via Barranquilla, Colombia. In a back-and-forth, high-intensity battle throughout all ten rounds, the two super featherweights traded power shots with abandon. Both men came our firing from the onset. Scarboro appeared to rock Valdes late in the opening round with a series of strong right hands. Valdes was cut above the left eye from another right hand in round three. Both fighters landed heavily and neither gave an inch in this entertaining battle. Scarboro, who was having his second fight in 70 days, won by scores of 96-94, 96-94 and 99-91. The valiant Valdes was taking on his fourth consecutive undefeated opponent.
Lightweight Jordan “Shortdog” White (20-2, 12 KOs) registered a ten-round unanimous decision over a cautious Willie “The Thrill” Shaw Jr. (15-7, 10 KOs). While the action was sporadic throughout, White, of Washington DC, managed to drop late-notice opponent Shaw, of Vallejo, California, with a well-timed right hand in round nine and pull away by scores of 99-90, 97-92 and 98-91.
In a tightly fought welterweight battle, Thanjhae “The Tiger” Teasley (14-0, 6 KOs) of Allentown, Pennsylvania, scored a close eight-round split decision over Elijah “2 Tec” Flores (10-1, 4 KOs) of Redlands, California, via The Bronx. The fight fell into a rhythm early with Teasley dominating the front half of the rounds and Flores coming on later. Both men had their moments and neither seemed badly hurt at any point. Teasley enjoyed a 130-124 advantage in landed punches by fight’s end. The scores were 77-75 Flores, overruled by two scores of 78-74 Teasley.
Travon “The Sniper” Marshall (13-1, 10 KOs) of nearby Capitol Heights, Maryland, used a searing body attack to slowly break down and sap the will of LAPD officer Eduardo Diaz (9-5, 3 KOs), stopping him in the sixth and final round. The more offensively gifted of the two, Marshall stayed at range and controlled the action with his long right hand and thudding shots to the abdomen. With the punishment piling up and the tough Diaz looking tired, Referee David Braslow decided he’d finally seen enough at 2:41 of the round.
Welterweight Benjamin Johnson (7-0, 7 KOs) stayed perfect with an impressive three-round TKO over game, but outgunned, Mexican opponent Mario Meza (4-2, 3 KOs). Johnson dropped Meza with a left-hand body shot two minutes into round three. A minute later, Meza took a knee from a strong right hand for a second knockdown and, when he rose, turned his back on Referee Jamaal Brown who immediately waved the fight off at 2:53
Towering welterweight David “The Body Snatcher” Whitmire (11-0, 8 KOs) of Washington, DC exhibited his formidable skills by raking Los Angeles-based opponent Jarrod Tennant (9-8, 4 KOs) to the head and body before dropping him twice and stopping him late in round three. Approaching the end of the round, Whitmire finally knocked Tennant down with a strong right hand and then moved in with a two-fisted assault to drop and stop Tennant at 2:59.
DWayne Holmes (11-0, 6 KOs) TKO 4 (0:01) over Nestor Robledo (9-16-2, 7 KOs);
Ervin Fuller III (12-0, 6 KOs) UD (3x 59-50) over Eric Ruiz (17-13-1, 7 KOs) ; and
Jeffrey Yu (9-2, 6 KOs) MD (60-54, 59-55, 57-57) over Brandon Gutierrez (5-4-2, 2 KOs).
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ProBox Results from Maryland
Bryan Flores W10 Starling Castillo... Junior welterweight Bryan “Nino Maravilla” Flores scored a ten-round majority decision over Starling “El Poli” Castillo in the main event of ProBoxTV’s “The Contender Series” from the Live! Casino Hotel Maryland in Hanover, Maryland. After a slow first two rounds, Flores (28-1-1, 16 KOs) of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, began to pressure Castillo (20-2-1, 13 KOs), working his way inside the Dominican southpaw’s longer arms to hammer the body and sap his strength. Round after round, Castillo had fewer answers to deal with Flores, who stepped it up and battered him around the ring. By the final rounds, Castillo seemed to be in survival mode from the onslaught. The scores of 95-95 draw, overruled by 98-92 and 96-94 Flores, were not a clear indication of the dominance Flores enjoyed throughout the contest. For instance, he outlanded Castillo 163-76 in power punches.
Rene Palacios W10 Sulaiman Segawa... In the ten-round co-feature, Rene “El Zurdo” Palacios (19-0-1, 10 KOs) Nuevo Casas Grandes, Mexico, scored an upset split decision over featherweight contender Sulaiman Segawa (18-6-1, 7 KOs) of Silver Spring, Maryland, via Uganda.Segawa landed more punches overall 180-177. Both southpaws could make a case for winning in the end, but the judges favored Palacios’ work by scores of 99-91 Palacios, 97-93 Palacios and an over-ruled 96-94 Segawa. Palacios was the better fighter on the inside while Segawa relied on his well-placed punches from range. Although there were no knockdowns, Segawa was cut on the right eye in round four and Palacios finished the fight with a swollen-closed right eye.
UNDERCARD RESULTS
The show was presented by Lamont Roach Sr (NoXcuse Promotions) and broadcast on ProBox TV, Local favorite Francois “The Franchise” Scarboro Jr. (12-0, 9 KOs) of nearby Cheverly, Maryland, won a ten-round slugfest by way of unanimous decision over Brandon Valdes (15-7, 7 KOs) of Rosemead, California, via Barranquilla, Colombia. In a back-and-forth, high-intensity battle throughout all ten rounds, the two super featherweights traded power shots with abandon. Both men came our firing from the onset. Scarboro appeared to rock Valdes late in the opening round with a series of strong right hands. Valdes was cut above the left eye from another right hand in round three. Both fighters landed heavily and neither gave an inch in this entertaining battle. Scarboro, who was having his second fight in 70 days, won by scores of 96-94, 96-94 and 99-91. The valiant Valdes was taking on his fourth consecutive undefeated opponent.
Lightweight Jordan “Shortdog” White (20-2, 12 KOs) registered a ten-round unanimous decision over a cautious Willie “The Thrill” Shaw Jr. (15-7, 10 KOs). While the action was sporadic throughout, White, of Washington DC, managed to drop late-notice opponent Shaw, of Vallejo, California, with a well-timed right hand in round nine and pull away by scores of 99-90, 97-92 and 98-91.
In a tightly fought welterweight battle, Thanjhae “The Tiger” Teasley (14-0, 6 KOs) of Allentown, Pennsylvania, scored a close eight-round split decision over Elijah “2 Tec” Flores (10-1, 4 KOs) of Redlands, California, via The Bronx. The fight fell into a rhythm early with Teasley dominating the front half of the rounds and Flores coming on later. Both men had their moments and neither seemed badly hurt at any point. Teasley enjoyed a 130-124 advantage in landed punches by fight’s end. The scores were 77-75 Flores, overruled by two scores of 78-74 Teasley.
Travon “The Sniper” Marshall (13-1, 10 KOs) of nearby Capitol Heights, Maryland, used a searing body attack to slowly break down and sap the will of LAPD officer Eduardo Diaz (9-5, 3 KOs), stopping him in the sixth and final round. The more offensively gifted of the two, Marshall stayed at range and controlled the action with his long right hand and thudding shots to the abdomen. With the punishment piling up and the tough Diaz looking tired, Referee David Braslow decided he’d finally seen enough at 2:41 of the round.
Welterweight Benjamin Johnson (7-0, 7 KOs) stayed perfect with an impressive three-round TKO over game, but outgunned, Mexican opponent Mario Meza (4-2, 3 KOs). Johnson dropped Meza with a left-hand body shot two minutes into round three. A minute later, Meza took a knee from a strong right hand for a second knockdown and, when he rose, turned his back on Referee Jamaal Brown who immediately waved the fight off at 2:53
Towering welterweight David “The Body Snatcher” Whitmire (11-0, 8 KOs) of Washington, DC exhibited his formidable skills by raking Los Angeles-based opponent Jarrod Tennant (9-8, 4 KOs) to the head and body before dropping him twice and stopping him late in round three. Approaching the end of the round, Whitmire finally knocked Tennant down with a strong right hand and then moved in with a two-fisted assault to drop and stop Tennant at 2:59.
DWayne Holmes (11-0, 6 KOs) TKO 4 (0:01) over Nestor Robledo (9-16-2, 7 KOs);
Ervin Fuller III (12-0, 6 KOs) UD (3x 59-50) over Eric Ruiz (17-13-1, 7 KOs) ; and
Jeffrey Yu (9-2, 6 KOs) MD (60-54, 59-55, 57-57) over Brandon Gutierrez (5-4-2, 2 KOs).
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Weigh-in report from New York |
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Saturday night sees Teofimo Lopez defend his world and WBO junior weltereight championship against undefeated three-division champion Shakur Stevenson at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Stevenson, a former champion in the 126, 130 and 135-pound weight divisions, came in at a career-high 138.6 pounds, while Lopez was a pound heavier at 139.6... Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Carlos Castro successfully made weight and are ready to compete for the vacant WBC featherweight championship. Carrington weighed in at 125.6 pounds while Castro tipped the scales at 125.2. Carrington, fighting in his hometown, gained respect on the international level in 2024, by defeating Sulaiman Segawa by majority decision. One year later, he fought for the interim WBC featherweight title against Mateus Heita. Following the vacancy left by the overweight Stephen Fulton, Carrington was given the opportunity to compete for the world championship against Castro
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Weigh-in report from New York
Saturday night sees Teofimo Lopez defend his world and WBO junior weltereight championship against undefeated three-division champion Shakur Stevenson at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Stevenson, a former champion in the 126, 130 and 135-pound weight divisions, came in at a career-high 138.6 pounds, while Lopez was a pound heavier at 139.6... Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Carlos Castro successfully made weight and are ready to compete for the vacant WBC featherweight championship. Carrington weighed in at 125.6 pounds while Castro tipped the scales at 125.2. Carrington, fighting in his hometown, gained respect on the international level in 2024, by defeating Sulaiman Segawa by majority decision. One year later, he fought for the interim WBC featherweight title against Mateus Heita. Following the vacancy left by the overweight Stephen Fulton, Carrington was given the opportunity to compete for the world championship against Castro
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Weigh-in report from San Juan |
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Here are the weigh-in results for Saturday's Top Rank show at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan:
WBO / WBA junior middleweight unification — twelve rounds
Xander Zayas 153.5 pounds vs. Abass Baraou 153.5
Referee: Roberto Ramirez Jr.; judges: Oliver Brien, Patrick Morley and Jose R. Torres;
Juanmita Lopez De Jesus 114.8 vs. Conner Goade 113.9 (six rounds);
Carlos De Leon Castro 129.7 vs. Diuhl Olguin 129.5 (six rounds);
Yadriel Caban 115 vs. Jeremis Hernandez-Torres 114.7 (four rounds);
Euri Cedeno 159.7 vs. Etoundi Michel William 159.9 (ten rounds); and
Giovani Santillan 153.9 vs. Courtney Pennington 153.5 (ten rounds).
The show will be freestreamed on Top Rank Classics Fast Channel, 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT). To watch on mobile or desktop, visit trboxing.co/TopRankClassics. To watch on your smart TV, check the availability of FAST channel apps and look for Top Rank Classics on The Roku Channel, Tubi, or Vizio. The entire Zayas vs. Baraou card will re-air in the U.S. for free on the Top Rank Classics FAST channel, starting at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 1, airing all day until midnight. It will re-air once at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 2.
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Weigh-in report from San Juan
Here are the weigh-in results for Saturday's Top Rank show at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan:
WBO / WBA junior middleweight unification — twelve rounds
Xander Zayas 153.5 pounds vs. Abass Baraou 153.5
Referee: Roberto Ramirez Jr.; judges: Oliver Brien, Patrick Morley and Jose R. Torres;
Juanmita Lopez De Jesus 114.8 vs. Conner Goade 113.9 (six rounds);
Carlos De Leon Castro 129.7 vs. Diuhl Olguin 129.5 (six rounds);
Yadriel Caban 115 vs. Jeremis Hernandez-Torres 114.7 (four rounds);
Euri Cedeno 159.7 vs. Etoundi Michel William 159.9 (ten rounds); and
Giovani Santillan 153.9 vs. Courtney Pennington 153.5 (ten rounds).
The show will be freestreamed on Top Rank Classics Fast Channel, 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT). To watch on mobile or desktop, visit trboxing.co/TopRankClassics. To watch on your smart TV, check the availability of FAST channel apps and look for Top Rank Classics on The Roku Channel, Tubi, or Vizio. The entire Zayas vs. Baraou card will re-air in the U.S. for free on the Top Rank Classics FAST channel, starting at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 1, airing all day until midnight. It will re-air once at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 2.
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Preview of Sunday's Zuffa Boxing 02 show |
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In Las Vegas, the action continues on Sunday with Zuffa Boxing 02. In the main event, former WBA junior welterweight champion Jose "Rayo" Valenzuela (14-3) kicks off a new chapter in his career as he drops to lightweight to take on hard-hitting Diego "Azabache" Torres over ten rounds. Valenzuela last fought back in March 2025, where he lost his title on the scorecards against Gary Antuanne Russell, but now he's beginning a run towards a new goal under the Zuffa Boxing banner. The southpaw has a 13-1 record against orthodox fighters, and he'll be looking to extend that record on Sunday night when he takes on Torres. From Mexico, Torres heads into the bout on a four-fight win streak following a 2023 loss to current IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla. His 22-1 record boasts 19 knockouts, and the Zapopan, Jalisco native will look to score the biggest win of his career on February 1st.
Serhii Bohachuk vs Radzhab Butaev
In the co-feature, Ukraine's former WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk moves up to 160 pounds for a middleweight clash with Russia's Radzhab Butaev. Los Angeles-based Bohachuk quickly built his reputation as a fearsome puncher as he raced to 18-0, with all 18 victories coming inside the distance. But on Sunday night he'll look to bounce back from his unanimous decision loss to Brandon Adams on the Canelo-Crawford undercard last September. Bohachuk has a formidable knockout rate of 92 percent, with 24 of his 26 victories coming inside the distance. He'll look to enhance that knockout record when he takes on Butaev, who bases himself out of Indio, California, and is moving up to 160 pounds for the first time in his career.
Radivoje Kalajdzic vs Oleksandr Gvozdyk
Serbia takes on Ukraine in Zuffa Boxing 02's main card opener scheduled for Sunday, February 1st. Radivoje Kalakdzic takes on ex-WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (pictured) in a battle between two seasoned light heavyweights with aspirations of championship gold. Serbia's Kalakdzic (29-3, 21 KOs) will end a 541-day layoff when he returns to action at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, with the Serbian contender keen to re-establish some momentum at 175 pounds. His last outing, back in August 2024, saw Kalakdzic fall to a decision defeat to David Morrell, ending a five-fight win streak. Now he's ready to return, and faces Ukraine's former 175-pound champion. Gvozdyk captured boxing bronze for Ukraine at the London 2012 Olympics before turning pro and knocking out Adonis Stevenson in the eleventh round to capture the light heavyweight world title back 2018 in his sixteenth pro fight. Now standing with a record of 30-2 including the World Series of Boxing, Gvozdyk plans on making another run at championship glory in Zuffa Boxing, starting with victory over former title challenger Kalajdzic on Sunday night.
Jalil Hackett vs Roberto Cruz
Rival 11-1 prospects go head-to-head in the featured preliminary card bout as Washington D.C.'s Jalil Hackett takes on Puerto Rico's Roberto Cruz. Both men turned pro as 18-year olds, but the pair arrive in Las Vegas after taking different routes to get here. While Hackett has stayed active, with his 12 career bouts coming in just over four and a half years, Cruz has built his experience over twice that timespan. Hackett is making a quick turnaround for his Zuffa Boxing debut, just 51 days after his first-round knockout of 29-fight veteran Jose Angulo in December. Cruz, meanwhile, hasn't fought since last May, when he suffered the first defeat of his pro career. Now "El Terror de Cayey" is ready to return, and the Texas-based prospect will look to get back to winning ways against fellow prospect Hackett in their 157-pound catchweight matchup.
Oscar Perez vs Justin Viloria
Unbeaten lightweight southpaws collide as Oscar "El Chato" Perez faces off against Justin "Chosen" Viloria. A Texas native, Perez banked some valuable rounds in 2025 with back-to-back decision wins in eight-round bouts to take his record to 14-0-2 with 7 KOs, while California's Viloria had a fraction more ring time, but in those rounds he managed to secure one decision win and three knockouts as he improved his record to 11-0 with 8 KOs.
Damoni Cato-Cain vs Christian Morales
Damoni Cato-Cain arrives in Vegas looking for a fresh start and a chance to build some new momentum after a two-year, four-fight run that saw one win and one loss bookended by a pair of draws. The most recent of those, against undefeated Jorge Maravillo, came back in December 2024. Now ready to return after a year away from the ring, the 8-1-2 (7 KOs) welterweight will take on more unbeaten opposition in the form of Las Vegas local Christian "El Mejor" Morales (7-0, 7 KOs), who is stepping in to compete on just ten days' notice. His response to getting the short-notice opportunity? "I trust in my skills and said, 'Fuck it. No risk, no reward.'"
Julian Gomez vs Damazion Vanhouter
Heavyweights will step into the Zuffa Boxing ring for the first time as 7-3 Mexican hopeful Julian "La Bomba" Gomez takes on undefeated 10-0 American Damazion Vanhouter. Gomez is looking to bounce back after a knockout defeat to unbeaten Austin Benson last October, while Vanhouter claimed the seventh first-round stoppage win of his career with a TKO of Jose Mario Tamez in December.
Jamar Talley vs Devonte Williams
Opening up Zuffa Boxing 02 is a cruiserweight bout between undefeated Jamar "No Mercy" Talley and Devonte Williams, who has a record of 13 wins, 3 losses, with five knockouts to his name. The Houston native will step through the ropes on Sunday looking to turn around his form after ending a three-and-a-half-year hiatus with back-to-back stoppage losses in 2025. Now the 32-year-old is ready for his first fight in Las Vegas, and an opportunity to transform his fortunes. Standing in his way is unbeaten Talley, a protege of the acclaimed trainer Brian "BoMac" McIntyre and former teammate of the now-retired multi-weight undisputed champion Terence Crawford. The 25-year-old New Jersey native has knocked out four of his five career victories as a pro and has only been beyond the second round once in his career.
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Preview of Sunday's Zuffa Boxing 02 show
In Las Vegas, the action continues on Sunday with Zuffa Boxing 02. In the main event, former WBA junior welterweight champion Jose "Rayo" Valenzuela (14-3) kicks off a new chapter in his career as he drops to lightweight to take on hard-hitting Diego "Azabache" Torres over ten rounds. Valenzuela last fought back in March 2025, where he lost his title on the scorecards against Gary Antuanne Russell, but now he's beginning a run towards a new goal under the Zuffa Boxing banner. The southpaw has a 13-1 record against orthodox fighters, and he'll be looking to extend that record on Sunday night when he takes on Torres. From Mexico, Torres heads into the bout on a four-fight win streak following a 2023 loss to current IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla. His 22-1 record boasts 19 knockouts, and the Zapopan, Jalisco native will look to score the biggest win of his career on February 1st.
Serhii Bohachuk vs Radzhab Butaev
In the co-feature, Ukraine's former WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk moves up to 160 pounds for a middleweight clash with Russia's Radzhab Butaev. Los Angeles-based Bohachuk quickly built his reputation as a fearsome puncher as he raced to 18-0, with all 18 victories coming inside the distance. But on Sunday night he'll look to bounce back from his unanimous decision loss to Brandon Adams on the Canelo-Crawford undercard last September. Bohachuk has a formidable knockout rate of 92 percent, with 24 of his 26 victories coming inside the distance. He'll look to enhance that knockout record when he takes on Butaev, who bases himself out of Indio, California, and is moving up to 160 pounds for the first time in his career.
Radivoje Kalajdzic vs Oleksandr Gvozdyk
Serbia takes on Ukraine in Zuffa Boxing 02's main card opener scheduled for Sunday, February 1st. Radivoje Kalakdzic takes on ex-WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (pictured) in a battle between two seasoned light heavyweights with aspirations of championship gold. Serbia's Kalakdzic (29-3, 21 KOs) will end a 541-day layoff when he returns to action at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, with the Serbian contender keen to re-establish some momentum at 175 pounds. His last outing, back in August 2024, saw Kalakdzic fall to a decision defeat to David Morrell, ending a five-fight win streak. Now he's ready to return, and faces Ukraine's former 175-pound champion. Gvozdyk captured boxing bronze for Ukraine at the London 2012 Olympics before turning pro and knocking out Adonis Stevenson in the eleventh round to capture the light heavyweight world title back 2018 in his sixteenth pro fight. Now standing with a record of 30-2 including the World Series of Boxing, Gvozdyk plans on making another run at championship glory in Zuffa Boxing, starting with victory over former title challenger Kalajdzic on Sunday night.
Jalil Hackett vs Roberto Cruz
Rival 11-1 prospects go head-to-head in the featured preliminary card bout as Washington D.C.'s Jalil Hackett takes on Puerto Rico's Roberto Cruz. Both men turned pro as 18-year olds, but the pair arrive in Las Vegas after taking different routes to get here. While Hackett has stayed active, with his 12 career bouts coming in just over four and a half years, Cruz has built his experience over twice that timespan. Hackett is making a quick turnaround for his Zuffa Boxing debut, just 51 days after his first-round knockout of 29-fight veteran Jose Angulo in December. Cruz, meanwhile, hasn't fought since last May, when he suffered the first defeat of his pro career. Now "El Terror de Cayey" is ready to return, and the Texas-based prospect will look to get back to winning ways against fellow prospect Hackett in their 157-pound catchweight matchup.
Oscar Perez vs Justin Viloria
Unbeaten lightweight southpaws collide as Oscar "El Chato" Perez faces off against Justin "Chosen" Viloria. A Texas native, Perez banked some valuable rounds in 2025 with back-to-back decision wins in eight-round bouts to take his record to 14-0-2 with 7 KOs, while California's Viloria had a fraction more ring time, but in those rounds he managed to secure one decision win and three knockouts as he improved his record to 11-0 with 8 KOs.
Damoni Cato-Cain vs Christian Morales
Damoni Cato-Cain arrives in Vegas looking for a fresh start and a chance to build some new momentum after a two-year, four-fight run that saw one win and one loss bookended by a pair of draws. The most recent of those, against undefeated Jorge Maravillo, came back in December 2024. Now ready to return after a year away from the ring, the 8-1-2 (7 KOs) welterweight will take on more unbeaten opposition in the form of Las Vegas local Christian "El Mejor" Morales (7-0, 7 KOs), who is stepping in to compete on just ten days' notice. His response to getting the short-notice opportunity? "I trust in my skills and said, 'Fuck it. No risk, no reward.'"
Julian Gomez vs Damazion Vanhouter
Heavyweights will step into the Zuffa Boxing ring for the first time as 7-3 Mexican hopeful Julian "La Bomba" Gomez takes on undefeated 10-0 American Damazion Vanhouter. Gomez is looking to bounce back after a knockout defeat to unbeaten Austin Benson last October, while Vanhouter claimed the seventh first-round stoppage win of his career with a TKO of Jose Mario Tamez in December.
Jamar Talley vs Devonte Williams
Opening up Zuffa Boxing 02 is a cruiserweight bout between undefeated Jamar "No Mercy" Talley and Devonte Williams, who has a record of 13 wins, 3 losses, with five knockouts to his name. The Houston native will step through the ropes on Sunday looking to turn around his form after ending a three-and-a-half-year hiatus with back-to-back stoppage losses in 2025. Now the 32-year-old is ready for his first fight in Las Vegas, and an opportunity to transform his fortunes. Standing in his way is unbeaten Talley, a protege of the acclaimed trainer Brian "BoMac" McIntyre and former teammate of the now-retired multi-weight undisputed champion Terence Crawford. The 25-year-old New Jersey native has knocked out four of his five career victories as a pro and has only been beyond the second round once in his career.
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Rival promoter comes out in support of Zuffa Boxing |
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Promoter's editorial: As a fight promoter for the past forty years, I believe it gives me the right to comment on what has been said or posted the past month by fight promoters, fight media, and fight fans, regarding the launch of Zuffa Boxing by Dana White. Let’s look at this situation. White launched a boxing promotions company, Zuffa Boxing, just like Bob Arum did with Top Rank, Don King did with Don King Promotions, Richard Schaefer, Oscar, and myself did with Golden Boy Promotions, Eddie Hearn with Matchroom, Joe Deguardia with Star Boxing, Jimmy Burchfield with CES, Al Haymon with PBC, and on and on. White hired a staff including Tom Loeffler, (who I have know for 30 years) as vice president, and matchmaker Chuck Bosecker (whose first matchmaking job was for our Fight Club OC shows). Just like Golden Boy did with Eric Gomez; like Top Rank did with Bruce Trampler, Brad Jacobs, and Carl Moretti; like Al Hayman did with Tom Brown, and on and on.
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Rival promoter comes out in support of Zuffa Boxing
Promoter's editorial: As a fight promoter for the past forty years, I believe it gives me the right to comment on what has been said or posted the past month by fight promoters, fight media, and fight fans, regarding the launch of Zuffa Boxing by Dana White. Let’s look at this situation. White launched a boxing promotions company, Zuffa Boxing, just like Bob Arum did with Top Rank, Don King did with Don King Promotions, Richard Schaefer, Oscar, and myself did with Golden Boy Promotions, Eddie Hearn with Matchroom, Joe Deguardia with Star Boxing, Jimmy Burchfield with CES, Al Haymon with PBC, and on and on. White hired a staff including Tom Loeffler, (who I have know for 30 years) as vice president, and matchmaker Chuck Bosecker (whose first matchmaking job was for our Fight Club OC shows). Just like Golden Boy did with Eric Gomez; like Top Rank did with Bruce Trampler, Brad Jacobs, and Carl Moretti; like Al Hayman did with Tom Brown, and on and on.
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NYC Firefighters to box for charity |
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The New York City Fire Department's FDNY Bravest Boxing Team is gearing to square off against first responders from around the globe at the International Battle of the Badges III. On Friday, March 6th, the fearless fighters will take center stage at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, battling not only for victory but for powerful causes. Every punch thrown will support the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, The Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Foundation, The FDNY Foundation, NY Firefighters Foundation, and the Fire Family Transport Foundation. Come support New York City’s Bravest – get your tickets here.
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NYC Firefighters to box for charity
The New York City Fire Department's FDNY Bravest Boxing Team is gearing to square off against first responders from around the globe at the International Battle of the Badges III. On Friday, March 6th, the fearless fighters will take center stage at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, battling not only for victory but for powerful causes. Every punch thrown will support the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, The Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Foundation, The FDNY Foundation, NY Firefighters Foundation, and the Fire Family Transport Foundation. Come support New York City’s Bravest – get your tickets here.
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Adames out of tomorrow's title defense |
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The WBC announced that the WBC middleweight championship fight between Carlos Adames and Austin Williams, scheduled for this Saturday, January 31st at Madison Square Garden in New York City has been cancelled due to an illness affecting the champion, Adames. The bout was set to be Adames' second title defense. Two fights fell out today, the day of the weigh-in, leading to questions as to whether the weight cut was the source of the "illness." Earlier in the day, it was announced that Domincan welterweight Rohan Polanco fell ill late and has withdrawn from a significant bout against Christian Gomez that was the co-feature on Top Rank's Puerto Rico show.
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Adames out of tomorrow's title defense
The WBC announced that the WBC middleweight championship fight between Carlos Adames and Austin Williams, scheduled for this Saturday, January 31st at Madison Square Garden in New York City has been cancelled due to an illness affecting the champion, Adames. The bout was set to be Adames' second title defense. Two fights fell out today, the day of the weigh-in, leading to questions as to whether the weight cut was the source of the "illness." Earlier in the day, it was announced that Domincan welterweight Rohan Polanco fell ill late and has withdrawn from a significant bout against Christian Gomez that was the co-feature on Top Rank's Puerto Rico show.
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Polanco out of tomorrow's San Juan co-feature |
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Welterweight Rohan Polanco fell ill late Thursday evening and was forced to withdraw from his bout against Christian Gomez. The rest of the card tomorrow at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, headlined by the Xander Zayas-Abass Baraou junior middleweight title unification showdown, will proceed as scheduled. The six-round junior bantamweight fight between Juanmita Lopez De Jesus and Conner Goade will take place immediately before the main event. Zayas-Baraou and the full undercard will stream for free on the Top Rank Classics FAST channel in the U.S. with a new start time of 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. Zayas vs. Baraou will begin at approximately 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
To watch on mobile or desktop, visit trboxing.co/TopRankClassics. To watch on your smart TV, check the availability of FAST channel apps and search for Top Rank Classics on The Roku Channel, Tubi, or Vizio. The full Zayas vs. Baraou card will be broadcast in Puerto Rico on WAPA Deportes, the only local channel dedicated entirely to sports programming, starting at 7:30 p.m. AST
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Polanco out of tomorrow's San Juan co-feature
Welterweight Rohan Polanco fell ill late Thursday evening and was forced to withdraw from his bout against Christian Gomez. The rest of the card tomorrow at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, headlined by the Xander Zayas-Abass Baraou junior middleweight title unification showdown, will proceed as scheduled. The six-round junior bantamweight fight between Juanmita Lopez De Jesus and Conner Goade will take place immediately before the main event. Zayas-Baraou and the full undercard will stream for free on the Top Rank Classics FAST channel in the U.S. with a new start time of 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. Zayas vs. Baraou will begin at approximately 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
To watch on mobile or desktop, visit trboxing.co/TopRankClassics. To watch on your smart TV, check the availability of FAST channel apps and search for Top Rank Classics on The Roku Channel, Tubi, or Vizio. The full Zayas vs. Baraou card will be broadcast in Puerto Rico on WAPA Deportes, the only local channel dedicated entirely to sports programming, starting at 7:30 p.m. AST
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Lopez gets a rise out of Stevenson |
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Thursday's final presser with world and WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez (pictured) and undefeated WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson brought drama and substance ahead of Saturday's headliner from a sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York City, live on DAZN PPV. Normally, Stevenson is cool, calm, and collected. It didn't take long though for Lopez to get under Stevenson's skin. Lopez provoked Stevenson to rise from his chair and confront Lopez. Security intervened to prevent a further incident.
Lopez's father and trainer, Teofimo Lopez Sr., wasn't at the press conference due to being under the weather. Lopez declined to elaborate any further beyond saying his father was "downloading". But that didn't prevent Stevenson from trying to escalate the situation.
Stevenson alleged that Teofimo Sr. was in the fighter's hotel lobby "drugged out", which hasn't been proven to be accurate. The three-division world champion went on to tell Lopez he had a gift for Teofimo Sr. he wanted to give him. Lopez obliged, saying, "You never deny a gift". Stevenson took a bottle of tequila out of the bag.
Stevenson walked over to Teofimo Jr.'s side and handed a security guard the bottle. The lightweight champion's team kept insisting that Lopez Sr. was recovering from a hangover. Lopez didn't take the bait and insisted that Stevenson and his entourage are so worried about his dad that they bought him a gift.
The presser concluded shortly thereafter. Lopez and Stevenson had an intense face-to-face staredown, with the latter talking trash. Stevenson stood facing the media while Lopez kept glaring at him. Stevenson nudged his shoulder and walked off. He walked around security trying to find a way to Lopez. He was unsuccessful but he made sure to get every last word in.
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Lopez gets a rise out of Stevenson
Thursday's final presser with world and WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez (pictured) and undefeated WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson brought drama and substance ahead of Saturday's headliner from a sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York City, live on DAZN PPV. Normally, Stevenson is cool, calm, and collected. It didn't take long though for Lopez to get under Stevenson's skin. Lopez provoked Stevenson to rise from his chair and confront Lopez. Security intervened to prevent a further incident.
Lopez's father and trainer, Teofimo Lopez Sr., wasn't at the press conference due to being under the weather. Lopez declined to elaborate any further beyond saying his father was "downloading". But that didn't prevent Stevenson from trying to escalate the situation.
Stevenson alleged that Teofimo Sr. was in the fighter's hotel lobby "drugged out", which hasn't been proven to be accurate. The three-division world champion went on to tell Lopez he had a gift for Teofimo Sr. he wanted to give him. Lopez obliged, saying, "You never deny a gift". Stevenson took a bottle of tequila out of the bag.
Stevenson walked over to Teofimo Jr.'s side and handed a security guard the bottle. The lightweight champion's team kept insisting that Lopez Sr. was recovering from a hangover. Lopez didn't take the bait and insisted that Stevenson and his entourage are so worried about his dad that they bought him a gift.
The presser concluded shortly thereafter. Lopez and Stevenson had an intense face-to-face staredown, with the latter talking trash. Stevenson stood facing the media while Lopez kept glaring at him. Stevenson nudged his shoulder and walked off. He walked around security trying to find a way to Lopez. He was unsuccessful but he made sure to get every last word in.
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Murtazaliev to defend vs. Kelly in England on Saturday |
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IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev travels to Newcastle upon Tyne, England to make the second defense of his title against Josh Kelly, live on DAZN. Taking place this Saturday, Kelly will be in his first world title fight and will be a huge underdog to topple the undefeated 33-year old. The Russian-born Murtazaliev has knocked out his two previous opponents and he would love nothing more than to spoil what is the biggest moment of Kelly's boxing career so far. DAZN's coverage will begin at 7pm in the UK, which is 2pm in the United States' Eastern time zone.
The two fighters faced off on Tuesday, with Kelly surrounded by young prospects at a Newcastle gym, trying to make it an intimidating atmosphere for Murtazaliev as he encouraged those watching on to ramp up the volume. This left Kelly in a confident mood who claims he can stop the undefeated IBF light middleweight champion. "I believe there will be a shift, especially in him in his belief when he starts getting hit," Kelly told Matchroom Boxing. "He doesn't know where it's coming from, different angles he's never been hit from. And there will be a shift and you might not see it, but I'll feel it. And when I feel it, that's when I'll go on top. I believe I stop him."
The full fight card:
Bakhram Murtazaliev vs. Josh Kelly (IBF junior middleweight title);
Josh Padley vs. Jaouad Belemehdi (vacant European junior lightweight title);
Elif Nur Turhan vs. Taylah Gentzen (IBF women's lightweight title); and
Leo Atang vs. Amine Boucetta (heavyweights).
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Murtazaliev to defend vs. Kelly in England on Saturday
IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev travels to Newcastle upon Tyne, England to make the second defense of his title against Josh Kelly, live on DAZN. Taking place this Saturday, Kelly will be in his first world title fight and will be a huge underdog to topple the undefeated 33-year old. The Russian-born Murtazaliev has knocked out his two previous opponents and he would love nothing more than to spoil what is the biggest moment of Kelly's boxing career so far. DAZN's coverage will begin at 7pm in the UK, which is 2pm in the United States' Eastern time zone.
The two fighters faced off on Tuesday, with Kelly surrounded by young prospects at a Newcastle gym, trying to make it an intimidating atmosphere for Murtazaliev as he encouraged those watching on to ramp up the volume. This left Kelly in a confident mood who claims he can stop the undefeated IBF light middleweight champion. "I believe there will be a shift, especially in him in his belief when he starts getting hit," Kelly told Matchroom Boxing. "He doesn't know where it's coming from, different angles he's never been hit from. And there will be a shift and you might not see it, but I'll feel it. And when I feel it, that's when I'll go on top. I believe I stop him."
The full fight card:
Bakhram Murtazaliev vs. Josh Kelly (IBF junior middleweight title);
Josh Padley vs. Jaouad Belemehdi (vacant European junior lightweight title);
Elif Nur Turhan vs. Taylah Gentzen (IBF women's lightweight title); and
Leo Atang vs. Amine Boucetta (heavyweights).
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WBC sanctioning two eliminators in bantamweight division |
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Mexican bantamweight Alejandro “Konejo” González (19-6-3) will compete on the road in a WBC eliminator against Britain’s Andrew Cain (14-1) on Saturday, February 7th in Liverpool, England. González is coming off an important victory over Juan Hernández. González and his promoter, Mario Muñoz, were present at the WBC’s weekly press conference this week, where they shared details about this key matchup.
During the conference, WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán confirmed that there will be another bantamweight eliminator, which will be contested between Tenshin Nasukawa and [former multi-division champion] Juan Manuel Estrada. This is because, after the vacant bantamweight title was contested, the current champion, Takuma Inoue, will be required to make two mandatory defenses.
Nonetheless, González stated: “I’m very happy. This is a great opportunity, and believe me, we’re not going to let it slip away. Every fight is tough, but we prepare for each one as if we were fighting for the world championship. I’ve already gone through blood tests, eye exams, head scans—full medical checkups—and we’re at 100 percent. I hope everyone supports us. Believe me, there will be a new champion, and above all, a Mexican one.”
Muñoz added: “Having ‘Konejo’ with me—who is more than my team, he’s my family. We’re going to work to represent the WBC in the most dignified way possible. We appreciate all your support. You’re going to see a ‘Konejo’ González who will make history.”
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WBC sanctioning two eliminators in bantamweight division
Mexican bantamweight Alejandro “Konejo” González (19-6-3) will compete on the road in a WBC eliminator against Britain’s Andrew Cain (14-1) on Saturday, February 7th in Liverpool, England. González is coming off an important victory over Juan Hernández. González and his promoter, Mario Muñoz, were present at the WBC’s weekly press conference this week, where they shared details about this key matchup.
During the conference, WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán confirmed that there will be another bantamweight eliminator, which will be contested between Tenshin Nasukawa and [former multi-division champion] Juan Manuel Estrada. This is because, after the vacant bantamweight title was contested, the current champion, Takuma Inoue, will be required to make two mandatory defenses.
Nonetheless, González stated: “I’m very happy. This is a great opportunity, and believe me, we’re not going to let it slip away. Every fight is tough, but we prepare for each one as if we were fighting for the world championship. I’ve already gone through blood tests, eye exams, head scans—full medical checkups—and we’re at 100 percent. I hope everyone supports us. Believe me, there will be a new champion, and above all, a Mexican one.”
Muñoz added: “Having ‘Konejo’ with me—who is more than my team, he’s my family. We’re going to work to represent the WBC in the most dignified way possible. We appreciate all your support. You’re going to see a ‘Konejo’ González who will make history.”
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Final presser quotes from San Juan |
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Puerto Rican star Xander Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) has waited nearly six years for a homecoming. He returns as WBO 154-pound champion and will square off against WBA king Abass Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs) this Saturday, Jan. 31st, at Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan. In just the second unification ever held on Puerto Rican soil, the 23-year-old has the chance to become the youngest active unified champion and the first Boricua to do it on home turf. Baraou, a seasoned road warrior, is unfazed by the task at hand. Zayas-Baraou and other featured bouts will stream for free on the Top Rank Classics Fast channel in the U.S. beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT. Zayas vs. Baraou will begin at approximately 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. To watch on mobile or desktop, visit trboxing.co/TopRankClassics. To watch on your smart TV, check the availability of FAST channel apps and search for Top Rank Classics on The Roku Channel, Tubi, or Vizio.
This is what the fighters said at Thursday's press conference.
Xander Zayas
“This is what I have been working for since I was 5 years old. {18} years as a fighter, seven as a pro. I got a world title in my last fight at 23. I’m ready to become a unified world champion and to keep making history. This is the biggest moment of my life. I deserve to be here. I worked hard to be here. This is where I belong.”
“I’m expecting the best version of Abass Baraou. I’m expecting something I haven’t seen before. We sparred almost two years ago. But he’s a champion now. And we both have grown and learned. We've also experienced different things. So, I’m expecting the best version of him because he’s going to get the best version of me. That’s for sure.”
“This is the only fight {this weekend} where you’ll have two world titles on the line. It’s the only fight where you’ll see two champions putting everything on the line to become a unified champion. Tune in because there will be fireworks, and I’m going to make history one more time.”
Abass Baraou
“I go everywhere to make my dreams come true. I’ve been doing the work for a long time. Being here is amazing. And I can’t wait for Saturday night.”
“Winning the title was amazing. It was one of my favorite moments so far. I worked so hard for this moment. It was hard to get there. As you can tell, my team was happy as well. And securing that win opened up bigger opportunities, like Saturday’s fight. So I really enjoyed that moment.”
“Everyone knows we sparred. But I don’t put too much focus on it. I spar to learn. When we sparred, it was always good work. But a fight is different. Gloves are different. No headgear. It’s just me and him in the ring with no helping hand. It’s going to be way different than any sparring. I’m focused on this fight, and I’m looking forward to it.”
“I’m an experienced fighter. I have a great amateur background. And I’ve come to Puerto Rico to put it all on the line. We know that Zayas is fast and talented. So, as a boxing fan myself, I feel this is a great fight to watch. Tune in to see how I pull this off.”
***
In the ten-round co-feature, Dominican welterweight Rohan “El Rayo” Polanco (17-0, 10 KOs) takes on Mexican veteran Christian Gomez (23-6-1, 21 KOs). Here is what those two had to say:
Rohan Polanco
“I hope that the title opportunity comes this year. I have been fighting for some time, and I’ve been ranked for a while as well. I’ve been positioning myself among the best. So, I’m just waiting for the opportunity. I feel I am ready. I have lots of experience. I just need the opportunity.”
“I would love to fight {WBO champion} Devin Haney. I’m ranked in that organization. I think that would be the easiest fight to make. I’m ready. I’m going to beat everyone.”
Christian Gomez
“We’re going to come forward, but we’re also going to try different strategies that we worked on in camp.”
“I come from a family of boxers. Even my mother was a boxer. This sport is very important to us.”
“I think experience dictates how you perform in a fight. But also, when you see the abilities of your opponent, you also tailor your camp for that.”
***
Additionally, Juanmita Lopez De Jesus (4-0, 2 KOs), the 19-year-old son of former world champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez, will face Conner Goade (8-4-2, 7 KOs) in a six-round tilt at junior bantamweight.
Juanmita Lopez De Jesus
“This first year as a pro has been great. I’ve gotten a lot of experience. I know Conner is an experienced fighter. But I’m going to show that I’m on a different level.”
“Camp has been great. I had a cut in my last fight, so I had to wait three months to return. So, I was able to prepare more. I’m going to show that I’ve grown a lot.”
Conner Goade
“I’ve had a lot of fights that could have gone either way. But that’s alright. You’ll see what happens on Saturday night.”
“I’ve got a couple more rounds fought than him. But I also know he has more amateur fights. So, it’ll even out.”
***
The undercard will also include the junior middleweight debut of Giovani Santillan (34-1, 18 KOs), as well as the return of rising Dominican middleweight Euri Cedeño (13-0-1, 12 KOs), in separate ten-rounders. Santillan will lock horns with Courtney Pennington (17-11-3, 7 KOs), while Cedeño squares off against Etoundi Michel William (16-2, 12 KOs).
Giovani Santillan
“This is my first time fighting at 154 pounds, and I’m excited to put on a show here in Puerto Rico. I want to show everyone that there is a new fighter in this weight class who is coming for the belts.”
“I feel good at this weight now. It shows in my training and preparation. We focused less on making the weight and more on the actual fight.”
“I have big goals for 2026. I want to fight for a world title in this new weight class.”
Euri Cedeño
“My power comes from my hard work. I always work with my mindset on destroying my opponent. That’s where it comes from.”
“Rohan {my Olympic teammate} and I never talked about fighting on the same card together. But I feel happy to be sharing this card with him. We’ve known each other since we were kids. We’ve always respected each other.”
“My opponent asked for this fight. So, I’m coming in here even more motivated because I want to show him that he took a huge risk in asking to fight me.”
Additionally, Juanmita Lopez De Jesus (4-0, 2 KOs), the 19-year-old son of former world champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez, will face Conner Goade (8-4-2, 7 KOs) in a six-round tilt at junior bantamweight.
The undercard will also include the junior middleweight debut of Giovani Santillan (34-1, 18 KOs), as well as the return of rising Dominican middleweight Euri Cedeño (13-0-1, 12 KOs), in separate 10-rounders. Santillan will lock horns with Courtney Pennington (17-11-3, 7 KOs), while Cedeño squares off against Etoundi Michel William (16-2, 12 KOs).
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Final presser quotes from San Juan
Puerto Rican star Xander Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) has waited nearly six years for a homecoming. He returns as WBO 154-pound champion and will square off against WBA king Abass Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs) this Saturday, Jan. 31st, at Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan. In just the second unification ever held on Puerto Rican soil, the 23-year-old has the chance to become the youngest active unified champion and the first Boricua to do it on home turf. Baraou, a seasoned road warrior, is unfazed by the task at hand. Zayas-Baraou and other featured bouts will stream for free on the Top Rank Classics Fast channel in the U.S. beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT. Zayas vs. Baraou will begin at approximately 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. To watch on mobile or desktop, visit trboxing.co/TopRankClassics. To watch on your smart TV, check the availability of FAST channel apps and search for Top Rank Classics on The Roku Channel, Tubi, or Vizio.
This is what the fighters said at Thursday's press conference.
Xander Zayas
“This is what I have been working for since I was 5 years old. {18} years as a fighter, seven as a pro. I got a world title in my last fight at 23. I’m ready to become a unified world champion and to keep making history. This is the biggest moment of my life. I deserve to be here. I worked hard to be here. This is where I belong.”
“I’m expecting the best version of Abass Baraou. I’m expecting something I haven’t seen before. We sparred almost two years ago. But he’s a champion now. And we both have grown and learned. We've also experienced different things. So, I’m expecting the best version of him because he’s going to get the best version of me. That’s for sure.”
“This is the only fight {this weekend} where you’ll have two world titles on the line. It’s the only fight where you’ll see two champions putting everything on the line to become a unified champion. Tune in because there will be fireworks, and I’m going to make history one more time.”
Abass Baraou
“I go everywhere to make my dreams come true. I’ve been doing the work for a long time. Being here is amazing. And I can’t wait for Saturday night.”
“Winning the title was amazing. It was one of my favorite moments so far. I worked so hard for this moment. It was hard to get there. As you can tell, my team was happy as well. And securing that win opened up bigger opportunities, like Saturday’s fight. So I really enjoyed that moment.”
“Everyone knows we sparred. But I don’t put too much focus on it. I spar to learn. When we sparred, it was always good work. But a fight is different. Gloves are different. No headgear. It’s just me and him in the ring with no helping hand. It’s going to be way different than any sparring. I’m focused on this fight, and I’m looking forward to it.”
“I’m an experienced fighter. I have a great amateur background. And I’ve come to Puerto Rico to put it all on the line. We know that Zayas is fast and talented. So, as a boxing fan myself, I feel this is a great fight to watch. Tune in to see how I pull this off.”
***
In the ten-round co-feature, Dominican welterweight Rohan “El Rayo” Polanco (17-0, 10 KOs) takes on Mexican veteran Christian Gomez (23-6-1, 21 KOs). Here is what those two had to say:
Rohan Polanco
“I hope that the title opportunity comes this year. I have been fighting for some time, and I’ve been ranked for a while as well. I’ve been positioning myself among the best. So, I’m just waiting for the opportunity. I feel I am ready. I have lots of experience. I just need the opportunity.”
“I would love to fight {WBO champion} Devin Haney. I’m ranked in that organization. I think that would be the easiest fight to make. I’m ready. I’m going to beat everyone.”
Christian Gomez
“We’re going to come forward, but we’re also going to try different strategies that we worked on in camp.”
“I come from a family of boxers. Even my mother was a boxer. This sport is very important to us.”
“I think experience dictates how you perform in a fight. But also, when you see the abilities of your opponent, you also tailor your camp for that.”
***
Additionally, Juanmita Lopez De Jesus (4-0, 2 KOs), the 19-year-old son of former world champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez, will face Conner Goade (8-4-2, 7 KOs) in a six-round tilt at junior bantamweight.
Juanmita Lopez De Jesus
“This first year as a pro has been great. I’ve gotten a lot of experience. I know Conner is an experienced fighter. But I’m going to show that I’m on a different level.”
“Camp has been great. I had a cut in my last fight, so I had to wait three months to return. So, I was able to prepare more. I’m going to show that I’ve grown a lot.”
Conner Goade
“I’ve had a lot of fights that could have gone either way. But that’s alright. You’ll see what happens on Saturday night.”
“I’ve got a couple more rounds fought than him. But I also know he has more amateur fights. So, it’ll even out.”
***
The undercard will also include the junior middleweight debut of Giovani Santillan (34-1, 18 KOs), as well as the return of rising Dominican middleweight Euri Cedeño (13-0-1, 12 KOs), in separate ten-rounders. Santillan will lock horns with Courtney Pennington (17-11-3, 7 KOs), while Cedeño squares off against Etoundi Michel William (16-2, 12 KOs).
Giovani Santillan
“This is my first time fighting at 154 pounds, and I’m excited to put on a show here in Puerto Rico. I want to show everyone that there is a new fighter in this weight class who is coming for the belts.”
“I feel good at this weight now. It shows in my training and preparation. We focused less on making the weight and more on the actual fight.”
“I have big goals for 2026. I want to fight for a world title in this new weight class.”
Euri Cedeño
“My power comes from my hard work. I always work with my mindset on destroying my opponent. That’s where it comes from.”
“Rohan {my Olympic teammate} and I never talked about fighting on the same card together. But I feel happy to be sharing this card with him. We’ve known each other since we were kids. We’ve always respected each other.”
“My opponent asked for this fight. So, I’m coming in here even more motivated because I want to show him that he took a huge risk in asking to fight me.”
Additionally, Juanmita Lopez De Jesus (4-0, 2 KOs), the 19-year-old son of former world champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez, will face Conner Goade (8-4-2, 7 KOs) in a six-round tilt at junior bantamweight.
The undercard will also include the junior middleweight debut of Giovani Santillan (34-1, 18 KOs), as well as the return of rising Dominican middleweight Euri Cedeño (13-0-1, 12 KOs), in separate 10-rounders. Santillan will lock horns with Courtney Pennington (17-11-3, 7 KOs), while Cedeño squares off against Etoundi Michel William (16-2, 12 KOs).
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Box Fan Expo to return for ninth year |
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The Box Fan Expo has announced its return to Las Vegas for its ninth annual Box Fan Expo for fans and the boxing industry. The event will return to the Las Vegas Convention Center on Saturday May 2nd, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will coincide with Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez's cruiserweight championship defense against WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez, which is scheduled to take place later that evening at the T-Mobile Arena. The Box Fan Expo is an annual fan experience event that has coincided with some of the sports' legendary fights in Las Vegas, including Mayweather vs. Maidana II, Mayweather vs. Berto, Alvarez vs. Chavez Jr., Alvarez vs. Golovkin II and III, Alvarez vs. Jacobs, Alvarez vs. Munguia and Crawford vs. Alvarez. The Box Fan Expo is thrilled to open its doors to boxing fans from all over the world, as well to all major boxing companies, promoters and industry people during this Mexican holiday weekend. Tickets to the Box Fan Expo are available online.
The last Box Fan Expo that took place in September 2025. It attracted nearly 4000 boxing fans who came to meet and greet some of their favorite fighters, such as Roy Jones Jr., Teofimo Lopez, Tommy Hearns, Marco Antonio Barrera, Sugar Shane Mosley, James Toney, Riddick Bowe, Shawn Porter, Juan Francisco Estrada and many others …
The Box Fan Expo also played host to the fifth edition of “Box Fan Expo Invitational 2025." This was an amateur show featuring several highly ranked and top USA amateur boxers,
The event also honored Barry’s Boxing Center which was founded by Pat and Dawn Barry, with a mission to help the youth of the Las Vegas community, on their path of physical and moral excellence. Barry’s Boxing Center is an environment that exemplifies the values of hard work, and respect. It gives the youths a safe place to go during critical out-of-school hours. In affiliation and coordination with USA Boxing, Barry’s Boxing center persist and insist on promoting safety in boxing as well as the development and encouragement of young men and women in their pursuit of excellence in the sport of boxing both in and out of the ring.
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Box Fan Expo to return for ninth year
The Box Fan Expo has announced its return to Las Vegas for its ninth annual Box Fan Expo for fans and the boxing industry. The event will return to the Las Vegas Convention Center on Saturday May 2nd, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will coincide with Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez's cruiserweight championship defense against WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez, which is scheduled to take place later that evening at the T-Mobile Arena. The Box Fan Expo is an annual fan experience event that has coincided with some of the sports' legendary fights in Las Vegas, including Mayweather vs. Maidana II, Mayweather vs. Berto, Alvarez vs. Chavez Jr., Alvarez vs. Golovkin II and III, Alvarez vs. Jacobs, Alvarez vs. Munguia and Crawford vs. Alvarez. The Box Fan Expo is thrilled to open its doors to boxing fans from all over the world, as well to all major boxing companies, promoters and industry people during this Mexican holiday weekend. Tickets to the Box Fan Expo are available online.
The last Box Fan Expo that took place in September 2025. It attracted nearly 4000 boxing fans who came to meet and greet some of their favorite fighters, such as Roy Jones Jr., Teofimo Lopez, Tommy Hearns, Marco Antonio Barrera, Sugar Shane Mosley, James Toney, Riddick Bowe, Shawn Porter, Juan Francisco Estrada and many others …
The Box Fan Expo also played host to the fifth edition of “Box Fan Expo Invitational 2025." This was an amateur show featuring several highly ranked and top USA amateur boxers,
The event also honored Barry’s Boxing Center which was founded by Pat and Dawn Barry, with a mission to help the youth of the Las Vegas community, on their path of physical and moral excellence. Barry’s Boxing Center is an environment that exemplifies the values of hard work, and respect. It gives the youths a safe place to go during critical out-of-school hours. In affiliation and coordination with USA Boxing, Barry’s Boxing center persist and insist on promoting safety in boxing as well as the development and encouragement of young men and women in their pursuit of excellence in the sport of boxing both in and out of the ring.
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Weigh-in report from Maryland |
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Here are the boxers' weights for Friday's ProBoxTV show at the Live! Casino Hotel in Hanover, Maryland:
Bryan Flores 139.6 pounds -vs.- Starling Castillo 138.2;
Sulaiman Segawa 124.2 -vs.- Rene Palacios 125.4;
Francois Scarboro Jr. 130.8 lbs -vs.- Brandon Valdes 129.8;
Jordan White 135 -vs.- Willie Shaw 135;
Elijah Flores 150 -vs.- Thanjhae Teasley 148.8;
Travon Marshall 149.8 -vs.- Eduardo Diaz 149.8;
Benjamin Johnson 150.2 -vs.- Mario Meza 149;
David Whitmire 149.8 -vs.- Jarrod Tennant 152.2;
Jordan Roach 117.6 -vs.- Juan Hinostroza 118;
Jeffery Yu 131.8 -vs.- Brandon Gutierrez 129.4;
Ervin Fuller, III 121.8 -vs.- Erik Ruiz 121.4; and
DWayne Holmes Jr 122.2 -vs.- Nestor Robledo 121.8.
TV: ProBoxTV 7:00 pm EST
Promoters: Lamont Roach Sr.'s NoXcuse Promotions, Pro Box Promotions, Sampson Boxing.
Matchmakers: Ramiro Hernandez, Daniel Rubin
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Weigh-in report from Maryland
Here are the boxers' weights for Friday's ProBoxTV show at the Live! Casino Hotel in Hanover, Maryland:
Bryan Flores 139.6 pounds -vs.- Starling Castillo 138.2;
Sulaiman Segawa 124.2 -vs.- Rene Palacios 125.4;
Francois Scarboro Jr. 130.8 lbs -vs.- Brandon Valdes 129.8;
Jordan White 135 -vs.- Willie Shaw 135;
Elijah Flores 150 -vs.- Thanjhae Teasley 148.8;
Travon Marshall 149.8 -vs.- Eduardo Diaz 149.8;
Benjamin Johnson 150.2 -vs.- Mario Meza 149;
David Whitmire 149.8 -vs.- Jarrod Tennant 152.2;
Jordan Roach 117.6 -vs.- Juan Hinostroza 118;
Jeffery Yu 131.8 -vs.- Brandon Gutierrez 129.4;
Ervin Fuller, III 121.8 -vs.- Erik Ruiz 121.4; and
DWayne Holmes Jr 122.2 -vs.- Nestor Robledo 121.8.
TV: ProBoxTV 7:00 pm EST
Promoters: Lamont Roach Sr.'s NoXcuse Promotions, Pro Box Promotions, Sampson Boxing.
Matchmakers: Ramiro Hernandez, Daniel Rubin
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Top Rank secures Puerto Rican broadcast for Zayas vs. Baraou |
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Puerto Rican WBO junior middleweight world champion Xander Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) is set for his high-stakes homecoming against WBA king Abass Barou (17-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday evening from the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan. The full Zayas vs. Baraou card will be broadcast in Puerto Rico on WAPA Deportes, the only local channel dedicated entirely to sports programming, starting at 6:30 p.m. AST. The event will also be available via live stream at https://wapa.tv/envivo/deportes/, exclusively for residents of Puerto Rico.
The WAPA Deportes telecast will feature seven bouts, including the return of Juamita Lopez De Jesus (4-0, 2 KOs). The son of former two-division world champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez will face Conner Goade (8-4-2, 7 KOs) in a six-rounder at junior bantamweight.
“We have closely followed Xander Zayas’s career. His technical skill and power have propelled him to the peak of his career. Broadcasting this fight card, headlined by him, reflects WAPA Deportes’ commitment to offering top-tier sports programming and supporting the new generation of athletes who represent the present and future of boxing. Our goal is to bring the audience relevant, high-quality events that connect with the country’s passion for sports,” said Paco Vargas, General Manager of WAPA Deportes.
“Zayas vs. Baraou is a historic event for Puerto Rico, and we are thrilled to partner with WAPA Deportes,” said Top Rank COO Brad Jacobs. “Puerto Rican fight fans have followed Xander intently ever since he turned pro, and on Saturday, they’ll watch as he attempts to unify the WBO and WBA junior middleweight world titles.”
WAPA Deportes is available in Puerto Rico through major cable and satellite providers, including Liberty (channels 44 and 244 HD), DIRECTV (channel 657), Claro TV (channel 5), Dish (channel 27), Sling TV, and Aire Digital (4.2). Visit www.wapa.tv for more details.
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Top Rank secures Puerto Rican broadcast for Zayas vs. Baraou
Puerto Rican WBO junior middleweight world champion Xander Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) is set for his high-stakes homecoming against WBA king Abass Barou (17-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday evening from the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan. The full Zayas vs. Baraou card will be broadcast in Puerto Rico on WAPA Deportes, the only local channel dedicated entirely to sports programming, starting at 6:30 p.m. AST. The event will also be available via live stream at https://wapa.tv/envivo/deportes/, exclusively for residents of Puerto Rico.
The WAPA Deportes telecast will feature seven bouts, including the return of Juamita Lopez De Jesus (4-0, 2 KOs). The son of former two-division world champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez will face Conner Goade (8-4-2, 7 KOs) in a six-rounder at junior bantamweight.
“We have closely followed Xander Zayas’s career. His technical skill and power have propelled him to the peak of his career. Broadcasting this fight card, headlined by him, reflects WAPA Deportes’ commitment to offering top-tier sports programming and supporting the new generation of athletes who represent the present and future of boxing. Our goal is to bring the audience relevant, high-quality events that connect with the country’s passion for sports,” said Paco Vargas, General Manager of WAPA Deportes.
“Zayas vs. Baraou is a historic event for Puerto Rico, and we are thrilled to partner with WAPA Deportes,” said Top Rank COO Brad Jacobs. “Puerto Rican fight fans have followed Xander intently ever since he turned pro, and on Saturday, they’ll watch as he attempts to unify the WBO and WBA junior middleweight world titles.”
WAPA Deportes is available in Puerto Rico through major cable and satellite providers, including Liberty (channels 44 and 244 HD), DIRECTV (channel 657), Claro TV (channel 5), Dish (channel 27), Sling TV, and Aire Digital (4.2). Visit www.wapa.tv for more details.
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Tank Davis apprehended in Florida |
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On Wednesday evening, TMZ broke the news that WBA lightweight champion was arrested in Miami Gardens, Florida on domestic violence charges. Davis was taken into police custody about two weeks after officials put out a warrant for his arrest. It is expected that Davis will be bailed out of jail shortly. The details of the allegations against Davis are as follows: Courtney Rossel and Davis have known each other for a few years. Rossel and Davis were intimately involved for a few months, although they chose not to make their relationship public. On October 27, 2025, at approximately 4:15 a.m., Davis came to Rossel at her place of work, a VIP lounge. Next, Davis allegedly grabbed and dragged her through a stairway, through the kitchen and through the back entrance all the way into the parking garage, where Davis continuously grabbed, choked, pushed, pulled, and struck Rossel in the back of the head, leaving her terrified and alone and embarrassed. During the incident, Davis allegedly forced Rossel to exit her workplace against her will, dragged her through the establishment, through a staircase, a kitchen, a backroom, and all the way into a parking garage, and attempted to force Rossel into his car until Rosell was able to run away. [This is the basis for the kidnapping charge].
PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE
JAN 17, 2026: Earlier this week, an arrest warrant was issued for troubled Gervonta "Tank" Davis by Miami Gardens Police for alleged domestic violence. The charges against Davis stem from a previously reported incident that occurred in October. They include battery, false imprisonment and attempted kidnapping. Police apparently have not yet located Davis in the three days since the warrant was issued. Davis is still recognized as the lightweight champion by the WBA despite his boxing inactivity, reprehensible alleged conduct, the controversy of his last match against Lamont Roach (in which Davis was allowed to take an illegal "time out") and his agreement to a cruiserweight fight vs. Jake Paul. The Paul fight was abruptly called off in November, shortly after the initial domestic violence reports surfaced.
NOV 4., 2025: Jake Paul and MVP canceled Paul's November 14th exhibition vs. WBA lightweight champion Gervonta "Tank" Davis over the allegations that Davis committed yet another act of violence against a woman. Paul issued the following statement: "Gervonta Davis is an actual walking human piece of garbage. Working with him is an absolute nightmare. The unprofessionalism, the bizarre requests, the showing up hours late to shoots, to the numerous arrests and related accusations and lawsuits. If you support this man you support the most vile sin a man can commit. I didn’t want to give this woman abuser a platform to grow his fans and to grow his bank account. My company champions women. I’m so sorry to everyone involved. Mostly to the undercard fighters, to my team at MVP and to my team who worked so hard prepping for this fight, sacrificing time with loved ones and kids just for this fool to lose his unintelligent mind again. It’s scary that devilish men like this can rise to the top of culture and sports, including in positions of power. I hope you people moving forward look beyond his fake streetwear pieces and search for something deeper to be a fan of. As for me it’s on to the next one as always. Anyone. Anytime. Any place."
Paul's statement followed on the heels of one issued by his company, which read: "Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix have announced that Jake Paul versus Gervonta Davis, originally scheduled for Friday, November 14th at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida will no longer be moving forward. 'Our team has worked closely with all parties to navigate the situation responsibly,' said MVP's CEO, Nakisa Bedarian. “While we will not be moving forward with this event, our plan still remains for Jake Paul to headline an event on Netflix in 2025. Details regarding a new date, location, Jake’s opponent, and additional bouts will be shared as soon as they are finalized. We think Netflix, the Keseya Center, and the Seminole Hard Rock Casino for their partnership.' MVP appreciates the continued support and understanding of our athletes, partners, sponsors, and fans as we work to finalize updated event plans. Those who purchased tickets via Ticketmaster for the Jake Paul versus Gervonta Davis event will get an automatic refund through the original point of purchase within 14 to 21 days. Those who purchased through the secondary market should contact them. MVP thanks everyone for their patience and look forward to delivering an extraordinary boxing event in 2025, live globally only on Netflix."
NOV. 2, 2025: With the heavily criticized Jake Paul vs. Gervonta "Tank" Davis exhibition just two weeks away, the event has come under more intense fire due to this week's assault allegations against Davis. Paul's Most Valuable Promotions issued the following statement: Most Valuable Promotions immediately initiated an investigation upon learning of the civil lawsuit filed against Gervonta Davis in Miami-Dade County on October 30, 2025. At this time, we are gathering information and reviewing the details to ensure any decision we make is thoroughly vetted. We unequivocally condemn any form of violence and are committed to handling this matter with diligence and respect for all involved. We will make a determination on next steps once we have completed our review and consult with the appropriate parties. Until then, we will not be commenting further."
OCT. 31, 2025: WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis has been sued in Florida state court over new allegations of violence against a girlfriend. There is currently no indication of any criminal charges, but the civil lawsuit details an incident that occurred last week, less than a month before Davis’ planned November 14th exhibition fight vs. Jake Paul on Netflix. The plaintiff is a woman named Courtney Rossel, who accuses Davis of battery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The complaint itself did not contain any specific monetary demand, but a cover sheet filed with the complaint states the amount sought exceeds $100,000.
Here are the details of the lawsuit, which at this time are simply allegations that the plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence:
Plaintiff Courtney Rossel is an individual residing in Miami-Dade County, Florida, who conducts business in Miami-Dade County. Defendant, Gervonta Bryant Davis, is an individual who resides at Southwest Ranches, FL. He is a professional boxer known as “Tank”. This Court has personal jurisdiction over the Defendant, and venue is proper because all parties conduct business in Miami-Dade County, and because the incident that took place occurred in Miami-Dade County, Florida. […]
Davis is a professional boxer who has competed in multiple weight divisions. Davis is publicly known for his career in the sport of boxing and for holding multiple championship titles. [But he] has a vast and extensive criminal history, especially instances related to domestic violence and abuse against ex-girlfriends. On September 19, 2017, an arrest warrant was issued due to Davis committing first-degree aggravated assault; on September 14, 2018, Davis was arrested for starting a fight with another man; on February 1, 2020, Davis was arrested on charges of simple battery / domestic violence against his former girlfriend; on December 27, 2022, Davis was arrested on a charge of battery domestic violence; and again on July 11, 2025, Davis was taken into custody following another battery charge. Davis ultimately has a pension for being violent. As a result, it is clear that Davis has a propensity and pattern of violence upon women.
Rossel and Davis have known each other for [a few] years. For approximately five months prior to the incident at issue, Rossel and Davis were intimately involved, although they chose not to make their relationship public. Throughout the five months prior to the incident in question, there were multiple instances of domestic violence, abuse, and threats made by Davis against Rossel concerning her safety and well-being. The incident that occurred on October 27, 2025, was not the first time Davis was violent toward Rossel.
On at least four prior occasions, Davis physically assaulted and choked Rossel, and on two occasions, he threatened in writing to kill her. The first instance of abuse occurred on or about September 2, 2025, when Davis threatened to kill Rossel for failing to respond to his calls and messages. In his communications, Davis accused Rossel of being with another man and used abusive and threatening language, stating that he would kill her for being unresponsive. On or about September 23, 2025, Davis again threatened Rossel’s life, accusing her of infidelity and writing, “I’ll kill you.”
That same day, September 23, 2025, while at Playa Miami, Davis physically assaulted Rossel by choking her in public. The assault at Playa Miami was not the first time Davis had physically attacked Rossel in a public setting. Prior to the October 27, 2025, incident, Davis also violently choked Rossel at her workplace, Tootsies, where she works as a VIP cocktail waitress. There, he found Rossel in a backroom area without cameras in order to conceal the abuse.
On October 27, 2025, at approximately 4:15 a.m., Davis located Rossel inside her place of work, upstairs in the VIP lounge, where Davis forcibly grabbed and dragged Rossel through a stairway, through the kitchen, and through the back entrance all the way into the parking garage, where Davis continuously grabbed, choked, pushed, pulled, and struck Rossel in the back of the head, leaving her terrified and alone and embarrassed for her co-workers and employer. During the October 27, 2025, incident, Davis forced Rossel to exit her workplace against her will, dragged her through the establishment, through a staircase, a kitchen, a backroom, and all the way into a parking garage, and attempted to force Rossel into his car until Rosell was able to run away. [This is the basis for the kidnapping charge]. Davis has continued to verbally, physically, and psychologically abuse Rossel, causing her to seek medical treatment, therapy, and assistance with daily living, as she remains in constant fear for her life. Rossel and Davis have known each other for approximately five years
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Tank Davis apprehended in Florida
On Wednesday evening, TMZ broke the news that WBA lightweight champion was arrested in Miami Gardens, Florida on domestic violence charges. Davis was taken into police custody about two weeks after officials put out a warrant for his arrest. It is expected that Davis will be bailed out of jail shortly. The details of the allegations against Davis are as follows: Courtney Rossel and Davis have known each other for a few years. Rossel and Davis were intimately involved for a few months, although they chose not to make their relationship public. On October 27, 2025, at approximately 4:15 a.m., Davis came to Rossel at her place of work, a VIP lounge. Next, Davis allegedly grabbed and dragged her through a stairway, through the kitchen and through the back entrance all the way into the parking garage, where Davis continuously grabbed, choked, pushed, pulled, and struck Rossel in the back of the head, leaving her terrified and alone and embarrassed. During the incident, Davis allegedly forced Rossel to exit her workplace against her will, dragged her through the establishment, through a staircase, a kitchen, a backroom, and all the way into a parking garage, and attempted to force Rossel into his car until Rosell was able to run away. [This is the basis for the kidnapping charge].
PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE
JAN 17, 2026: Earlier this week, an arrest warrant was issued for troubled Gervonta "Tank" Davis by Miami Gardens Police for alleged domestic violence. The charges against Davis stem from a previously reported incident that occurred in October. They include battery, false imprisonment and attempted kidnapping. Police apparently have not yet located Davis in the three days since the warrant was issued. Davis is still recognized as the lightweight champion by the WBA despite his boxing inactivity, reprehensible alleged conduct, the controversy of his last match against Lamont Roach (in which Davis was allowed to take an illegal "time out") and his agreement to a cruiserweight fight vs. Jake Paul. The Paul fight was abruptly called off in November, shortly after the initial domestic violence reports surfaced.
NOV 4., 2025: Jake Paul and MVP canceled Paul's November 14th exhibition vs. WBA lightweight champion Gervonta "Tank" Davis over the allegations that Davis committed yet another act of violence against a woman. Paul issued the following statement: "Gervonta Davis is an actual walking human piece of garbage. Working with him is an absolute nightmare. The unprofessionalism, the bizarre requests, the showing up hours late to shoots, to the numerous arrests and related accusations and lawsuits. If you support this man you support the most vile sin a man can commit. I didn’t want to give this woman abuser a platform to grow his fans and to grow his bank account. My company champions women. I’m so sorry to everyone involved. Mostly to the undercard fighters, to my team at MVP and to my team who worked so hard prepping for this fight, sacrificing time with loved ones and kids just for this fool to lose his unintelligent mind again. It’s scary that devilish men like this can rise to the top of culture and sports, including in positions of power. I hope you people moving forward look beyond his fake streetwear pieces and search for something deeper to be a fan of. As for me it’s on to the next one as always. Anyone. Anytime. Any place."
Paul's statement followed on the heels of one issued by his company, which read: "Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix have announced that Jake Paul versus Gervonta Davis, originally scheduled for Friday, November 14th at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida will no longer be moving forward. 'Our team has worked closely with all parties to navigate the situation responsibly,' said MVP's CEO, Nakisa Bedarian. “While we will not be moving forward with this event, our plan still remains for Jake Paul to headline an event on Netflix in 2025. Details regarding a new date, location, Jake’s opponent, and additional bouts will be shared as soon as they are finalized. We think Netflix, the Keseya Center, and the Seminole Hard Rock Casino for their partnership.' MVP appreciates the continued support and understanding of our athletes, partners, sponsors, and fans as we work to finalize updated event plans. Those who purchased tickets via Ticketmaster for the Jake Paul versus Gervonta Davis event will get an automatic refund through the original point of purchase within 14 to 21 days. Those who purchased through the secondary market should contact them. MVP thanks everyone for their patience and look forward to delivering an extraordinary boxing event in 2025, live globally only on Netflix."
NOV. 2, 2025: With the heavily criticized Jake Paul vs. Gervonta "Tank" Davis exhibition just two weeks away, the event has come under more intense fire due to this week's assault allegations against Davis. Paul's Most Valuable Promotions issued the following statement: Most Valuable Promotions immediately initiated an investigation upon learning of the civil lawsuit filed against Gervonta Davis in Miami-Dade County on October 30, 2025. At this time, we are gathering information and reviewing the details to ensure any decision we make is thoroughly vetted. We unequivocally condemn any form of violence and are committed to handling this matter with diligence and respect for all involved. We will make a determination on next steps once we have completed our review and consult with the appropriate parties. Until then, we will not be commenting further."
OCT. 31, 2025: WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis has been sued in Florida state court over new allegations of violence against a girlfriend. There is currently no indication of any criminal charges, but the civil lawsuit details an incident that occurred last week, less than a month before Davis’ planned November 14th exhibition fight vs. Jake Paul on Netflix. The plaintiff is a woman named Courtney Rossel, who accuses Davis of battery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The complaint itself did not contain any specific monetary demand, but a cover sheet filed with the complaint states the amount sought exceeds $100,000.
Here are the details of the lawsuit, which at this time are simply allegations that the plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence:
Plaintiff Courtney Rossel is an individual residing in Miami-Dade County, Florida, who conducts business in Miami-Dade County. Defendant, Gervonta Bryant Davis, is an individual who resides at Southwest Ranches, FL. He is a professional boxer known as “Tank”. This Court has personal jurisdiction over the Defendant, and venue is proper because all parties conduct business in Miami-Dade County, and because the incident that took place occurred in Miami-Dade County, Florida. […]
Davis is a professional boxer who has competed in multiple weight divisions. Davis is publicly known for his career in the sport of boxing and for holding multiple championship titles. [But he] has a vast and extensive criminal history, especially instances related to domestic violence and abuse against ex-girlfriends. On September 19, 2017, an arrest warrant was issued due to Davis committing first-degree aggravated assault; on September 14, 2018, Davis was arrested for starting a fight with another man; on February 1, 2020, Davis was arrested on charges of simple battery / domestic violence against his former girlfriend; on December 27, 2022, Davis was arrested on a charge of battery domestic violence; and again on July 11, 2025, Davis was taken into custody following another battery charge. Davis ultimately has a pension for being violent. As a result, it is clear that Davis has a propensity and pattern of violence upon women.
Rossel and Davis have known each other for [a few] years. For approximately five months prior to the incident at issue, Rossel and Davis were intimately involved, although they chose not to make their relationship public. Throughout the five months prior to the incident in question, there were multiple instances of domestic violence, abuse, and threats made by Davis against Rossel concerning her safety and well-being. The incident that occurred on October 27, 2025, was not the first time Davis was violent toward Rossel.
On at least four prior occasions, Davis physically assaulted and choked Rossel, and on two occasions, he threatened in writing to kill her. The first instance of abuse occurred on or about September 2, 2025, when Davis threatened to kill Rossel for failing to respond to his calls and messages. In his communications, Davis accused Rossel of being with another man and used abusive and threatening language, stating that he would kill her for being unresponsive. On or about September 23, 2025, Davis again threatened Rossel’s life, accusing her of infidelity and writing, “I’ll kill you.”
That same day, September 23, 2025, while at Playa Miami, Davis physically assaulted Rossel by choking her in public. The assault at Playa Miami was not the first time Davis had physically attacked Rossel in a public setting. Prior to the October 27, 2025, incident, Davis also violently choked Rossel at her workplace, Tootsies, where she works as a VIP cocktail waitress. There, he found Rossel in a backroom area without cameras in order to conceal the abuse.
On October 27, 2025, at approximately 4:15 a.m., Davis located Rossel inside her place of work, upstairs in the VIP lounge, where Davis forcibly grabbed and dragged Rossel through a stairway, through the kitchen, and through the back entrance all the way into the parking garage, where Davis continuously grabbed, choked, pushed, pulled, and struck Rossel in the back of the head, leaving her terrified and alone and embarrassed for her co-workers and employer. During the October 27, 2025, incident, Davis forced Rossel to exit her workplace against her will, dragged her through the establishment, through a staircase, a kitchen, a backroom, and all the way into a parking garage, and attempted to force Rossel into his car until Rosell was able to run away. [This is the basis for the kidnapping charge]. Davis has continued to verbally, physically, and psychologically abuse Rossel, causing her to seek medical treatment, therapy, and assistance with daily living, as she remains in constant fear for her life. Rossel and Davis have known each other for approximately five years
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The Sound of Silence: Is congressional inaction dismantling the Muhammad Ali Act? |
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It is often said that “history is written not only by those who act, but by those who fail to object.” In the case of boxing in 2026, congressional inaction and institutional quiet may be dismantling the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.
Obituaries are rarely written at the moment of death.
They are written in advance — quietly, cautiously — when the signs of impending doom are already there: the weakening pulse, the ignored warnings, the silence of those who should have spoken first. Institutions do not usually collapse because they are attacked. They collapse when, at the moment the structure begins to shift, those who depend on it assume it will hold — that someone else will reinforce the walls, that relevance is permanent, that time remains. But then the dam breaks. What follows is not chaos, but order — a new order — shaped not by those who had the most at stake, but by those who showed up when the rules were rewritten. When Congress acts, when regulators nod, when courts later defer, the outcome often appears inevitable in hindsight. But inevitability is usually nothing more than silence preserved in law.
This is an account of such a moment in boxing. Not a scandal.
Not a personality clash.
But the slow, deliberate dismantling of a regulatory framework — not through repeal, but through redefinition — while those charged with defending it remain conspicuously absent.
Legendary boxing journalist Thomas Hauser, who has been enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, published a crucial piece in the Guardian. In his investigation, Hauser exposed the contractual mechanics behind Zuffa Boxing’s proposed model — the long-term control provisions, the imbalance of leverage, and the erosion of fighter autonomy that echo the very abuses that led Congress to pass the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act in 2000. This article does not repeat that reporting. It builds on it.
Where Hauser examined what fighters are being asked to sign, this investigation examines why those contracts are now possible: the legislative strategy, regulatory acquiescence, institutional silence, and historical pattern that together determine how entire industries are reshaped.
The Ali Act, Fed to the Paper Shredder
If Congress believes what Zuffa is selling is good for boxing, it may not yet understand what it is considering dismantling. The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was not symbolic. It was structural — designed to fracture power, separate roles, mandate transparency, and prevent promoters from becoming managers, regulators, and judges of their own markets. What is now being proposed by Zuffa and considered by Congess does not repeal the Ali Act outright. It does something far more effective: it empties it from within. Through exemptions, redefinitions, and “compliance” language, the law survives in name while its protections are shredded. History has seen this maneuver before. Keep the statute. Remove the teeth. What emerges is not reform, but consolidation — the steady drift toward monopoly that Congress once sought to prevent.
Unified Boxing Organizations and the Return of Vertical Control
The creation of Zuffa as a “Unified Boxing Organization” invites a return to vertical integration: promoter, manager, ranking authority, and title operator collapsed into a single corporate structure. Supporters promise efficiency and stability. History promises something else: opacity, coercive leverage, and reduced competition. Fighters do not negotiate in markets like this — they submit to them.
What Is Missing: Long-Term Care and Pensions
Despite rhetoric around safety and minimum pay, the proposed framework remains silent on long-term medical care, chronic neurological treatment, and post-career pensions. Event-based protections do not address lifetime damage. Centralized control without lifetime responsibility does not modernize boxing — it externalizes its costs.
California, Regulatory Blessing, and the Quiet Pivot
California’s unanimous endorsement by executive officer Andy Foster of the proposed legislation sent a powerful signal to Congress: reform is welcome; scrutiny is unnecessary. That signal accelerated momentum. Elsewhere, commissions and regulators remained quiet. Oversight institutions did not resist. They watched.
The Silence of Boxing’s Power Brokers
With the exception of WBC president, Mauricio Sulaiman, who wrote a vague but open letter to the world boxing community, the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO have taken no formal position before Congress.
Top Rank, PBC, Golden Boy Promotions, and Salita Promotions have not testified. Golden Boy’s criticism of Zuffa exists — but only in streaming media. Podcasts and interviews do not create legislative history. Courts do not cite YouTube. No one asked for a seat at the congressional table — the only place where silence carries permanent consequence. Zuffa's Dana White warned that boxing’s institutions may become extinct and it was not hyperbole. It was historical awareness.
When Others Spoke — and Shaped Survival
History draws a bright line between those who spoke and those who disappeared. The railroads failed to unite publicly as consolidation overtook them; they were absorbed, sidelined, and erased.
Newspapers assumed indispensability as platforms extracted their lifeblood; communities lost accountability and civic memory. By contrast, baseball's Curt Flood advocated for athlete's rights of self-determination and lost — but he changed sports forever. Name, Image and Licensing rights ("NIL") reform succeeded in college sports because athletes and states made silence impossible. Speaking did not guarantee victory.
It guaranteed relevance.
Congressional Blessing and Judicial Deference
Legislative silence does not remain silent. It becomes doctrine. Courts defer to what Congress heard — and to what it did not. If consolidation is blessed now, it will be extraordinarily difficult to challenge later.
If this course continues, the outcome will not be debated. It will be studied. Historians may examine the crater left behind — like a meteorite impact — and trace it back to a moment when Congress believed it was encouraging reform, while in fact shredding the Ali Act’s core protections. They will note the warnings.
They will note the silence.
They will ask what might have been preserved had stakeholders united before impact. The sand in the hourglass is nearly gone.
The Sound of Silence
There is a reason this moment feels familiar. In 1964, Simon & Garfunkel released The Sound of Silence — a quiet song lamenting a society that was full of noise yet incapable of listening. People talking without speaking. Hearing without listening. Turning instead toward a glowing “neon god” that replaced substance with spectacle. It was not about the absence of sound.
It was about the absence of voice. That metaphor fits this moment in boxing with unsettling precision. There has been no shortage of commentary — interviews, streams, social posts. But commentary is not testimony. Noise is not participation. The warnings exist, but they are not being entered into the record.
There was once a Senator who understood this distinction. John McCain loved boxing. He boxed at the Naval Academy, attended fights, and understood the sport as a human endeavor marked by risk and sacrifice. When he saw fighters exploited by conflicts of interest and opaque power, he did not remain silent. He co-sponsored the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act and fought to pass it into law, insisting on transparency, separation of roles, and federal oversight. When those protections proved incomplete, he continued pressing for stronger national standards.
McCain understood something now at risk of being forgotten: reform begins with objection. What is unfolding today would have been instantly recognizable to him. A law designed to protect fighters is being hollowed out under the language of modernization. Consolidation is being framed as progress. And the institutions best positioned to object have chosen quiet adaptation instead.
This is how silence becomes policy.
And history will record not that boxing’s institutions were overpowered — but that they ignored their fate while there was still time to change it. When the obituary is finally read, it will not sound like tragedy. It will sound like inevitability — not because collapse was unavoidable, but because silence was chosen. And in the end, the most haunting sound may not be outrage or collapse — but the sound of silence.
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The Sound of Silence: Is congressional inaction dismantling the Muhammad Ali Act?
It is often said that “history is written not only by those who act, but by those who fail to object.” In the case of boxing in 2026, congressional inaction and institutional quiet may be dismantling the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.
Obituaries are rarely written at the moment of death.
They are written in advance — quietly, cautiously — when the signs of impending doom are already there: the weakening pulse, the ignored warnings, the silence of those who should have spoken first. Institutions do not usually collapse because they are attacked. They collapse when, at the moment the structure begins to shift, those who depend on it assume it will hold — that someone else will reinforce the walls, that relevance is permanent, that time remains. But then the dam breaks. What follows is not chaos, but order — a new order — shaped not by those who had the most at stake, but by those who showed up when the rules were rewritten. When Congress acts, when regulators nod, when courts later defer, the outcome often appears inevitable in hindsight. But inevitability is usually nothing more than silence preserved in law.
This is an account of such a moment in boxing. Not a scandal.
Not a personality clash.
But the slow, deliberate dismantling of a regulatory framework — not through repeal, but through redefinition — while those charged with defending it remain conspicuously absent.
Legendary boxing journalist Thomas Hauser, who has been enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, published a crucial piece in the Guardian. In his investigation, Hauser exposed the contractual mechanics behind Zuffa Boxing’s proposed model — the long-term control provisions, the imbalance of leverage, and the erosion of fighter autonomy that echo the very abuses that led Congress to pass the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act in 2000. This article does not repeat that reporting. It builds on it.
Where Hauser examined what fighters are being asked to sign, this investigation examines why those contracts are now possible: the legislative strategy, regulatory acquiescence, institutional silence, and historical pattern that together determine how entire industries are reshaped.
The Ali Act, Fed to the Paper Shredder
If Congress believes what Zuffa is selling is good for boxing, it may not yet understand what it is considering dismantling. The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was not symbolic. It was structural — designed to fracture power, separate roles, mandate transparency, and prevent promoters from becoming managers, regulators, and judges of their own markets. What is now being proposed by Zuffa and considered by Congess does not repeal the Ali Act outright. It does something far more effective: it empties it from within. Through exemptions, redefinitions, and “compliance” language, the law survives in name while its protections are shredded. History has seen this maneuver before. Keep the statute. Remove the teeth. What emerges is not reform, but consolidation — the steady drift toward monopoly that Congress once sought to prevent.
Unified Boxing Organizations and the Return of Vertical Control
The creation of Zuffa as a “Unified Boxing Organization” invites a return to vertical integration: promoter, manager, ranking authority, and title operator collapsed into a single corporate structure. Supporters promise efficiency and stability. History promises something else: opacity, coercive leverage, and reduced competition. Fighters do not negotiate in markets like this — they submit to them.
What Is Missing: Long-Term Care and Pensions
Despite rhetoric around safety and minimum pay, the proposed framework remains silent on long-term medical care, chronic neurological treatment, and post-career pensions. Event-based protections do not address lifetime damage. Centralized control without lifetime responsibility does not modernize boxing — it externalizes its costs.
California, Regulatory Blessing, and the Quiet Pivot
California’s unanimous endorsement by executive officer Andy Foster of the proposed legislation sent a powerful signal to Congress: reform is welcome; scrutiny is unnecessary. That signal accelerated momentum. Elsewhere, commissions and regulators remained quiet. Oversight institutions did not resist. They watched.
The Silence of Boxing’s Power Brokers
With the exception of WBC president, Mauricio Sulaiman, who wrote a vague but open letter to the world boxing community, the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO have taken no formal position before Congress.
Top Rank, PBC, Golden Boy Promotions, and Salita Promotions have not testified. Golden Boy’s criticism of Zuffa exists — but only in streaming media. Podcasts and interviews do not create legislative history. Courts do not cite YouTube. No one asked for a seat at the congressional table — the only place where silence carries permanent consequence. Zuffa's Dana White warned that boxing’s institutions may become extinct and it was not hyperbole. It was historical awareness.
When Others Spoke — and Shaped Survival
History draws a bright line between those who spoke and those who disappeared. The railroads failed to unite publicly as consolidation overtook them; they were absorbed, sidelined, and erased.
Newspapers assumed indispensability as platforms extracted their lifeblood; communities lost accountability and civic memory. By contrast, baseball's Curt Flood advocated for athlete's rights of self-determination and lost — but he changed sports forever. Name, Image and Licensing rights ("NIL") reform succeeded in college sports because athletes and states made silence impossible. Speaking did not guarantee victory.
It guaranteed relevance.
Congressional Blessing and Judicial Deference
Legislative silence does not remain silent. It becomes doctrine. Courts defer to what Congress heard — and to what it did not. If consolidation is blessed now, it will be extraordinarily difficult to challenge later.
If this course continues, the outcome will not be debated. It will be studied. Historians may examine the crater left behind — like a meteorite impact — and trace it back to a moment when Congress believed it was encouraging reform, while in fact shredding the Ali Act’s core protections. They will note the warnings.
They will note the silence.
They will ask what might have been preserved had stakeholders united before impact. The sand in the hourglass is nearly gone.
The Sound of Silence
There is a reason this moment feels familiar. In 1964, Simon & Garfunkel released The Sound of Silence — a quiet song lamenting a society that was full of noise yet incapable of listening. People talking without speaking. Hearing without listening. Turning instead toward a glowing “neon god” that replaced substance with spectacle. It was not about the absence of sound.
It was about the absence of voice. That metaphor fits this moment in boxing with unsettling precision. There has been no shortage of commentary — interviews, streams, social posts. But commentary is not testimony. Noise is not participation. The warnings exist, but they are not being entered into the record.
There was once a Senator who understood this distinction. John McCain loved boxing. He boxed at the Naval Academy, attended fights, and understood the sport as a human endeavor marked by risk and sacrifice. When he saw fighters exploited by conflicts of interest and opaque power, he did not remain silent. He co-sponsored the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act and fought to pass it into law, insisting on transparency, separation of roles, and federal oversight. When those protections proved incomplete, he continued pressing for stronger national standards.
McCain understood something now at risk of being forgotten: reform begins with objection. What is unfolding today would have been instantly recognizable to him. A law designed to protect fighters is being hollowed out under the language of modernization. Consolidation is being framed as progress. And the institutions best positioned to object have chosen quiet adaptation instead.
This is how silence becomes policy.
And history will record not that boxing’s institutions were overpowered — but that they ignored their fate while there was still time to change it. When the obituary is finally read, it will not sound like tragedy. It will sound like inevitability — not because collapse was unavoidable, but because silence was chosen. And in the end, the most haunting sound may not be outrage or collapse — but the sound of silence.
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Stevenson faces off with Lopez at MSG |
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With temperatures plummeting below zero in New York City this week, Brooklyn’s Teofimo Lopez and Newark’s Shakur Stevenson (pictured) are set to headline on Saturday at Madison Square Garden with Lopez's world and WBO junior welterweight championships on the line. And as the countdown to this weekend’s eagerly awaited main event continues, the bitter rivals shared a frosty exchange on court at the World’s Most Famous Arena on Tuesday during the New York Knicks’ NBA clash with the Sacramento Kings. Lopez and Stevenson then headed to the official launch party downtown at The Ned, where a host of influencers and media were on hand to usher in a historic fight week, delivered to fight fans by SELA and Matchroom Boxing.
On the undercard, former lightweight title holder Keyshawn Davis returns to the ring as a junior welterweight to face Jamaine Ortiz... WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames puts his belt on the line when the destructive Dominican faces a spirited American challenger in Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams.... Brooklyn’s Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington meanwhile, faces a tough test on home turf when he battles the seasoned Carlos Castro, who last time out in 2024 succumbed to a split decision defeat by Stephen Fulton in Las Vegas. The WBC featherweight title will be on the line... Plus, Brooklyn’s ‘Big Baby’ Jarrell Miller brings heavyweight action when the 37-year-old (26-1-2, 22 KOs) comes up against the ‘Black Lion’ Kingsley Ibeh (16-2-1, 14 KOs), who has previously fought the likes of Jared Anderson and Gerald Washington... Saudi Arabia’s undefeated junior welterweight Ziyad ‘Zizo’ Almaayouf returns to the USA – the scene of his overturned DQ victory in August 2024 against Michal Bulik in Los Angeles – when he meets Miami-based Kevin Castillo.
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Stevenson faces off with Lopez at MSG
With temperatures plummeting below zero in New York City this week, Brooklyn’s Teofimo Lopez and Newark’s Shakur Stevenson (pictured) are set to headline on Saturday at Madison Square Garden with Lopez's world and WBO junior welterweight championships on the line. And as the countdown to this weekend’s eagerly awaited main event continues, the bitter rivals shared a frosty exchange on court at the World’s Most Famous Arena on Tuesday during the New York Knicks’ NBA clash with the Sacramento Kings. Lopez and Stevenson then headed to the official launch party downtown at The Ned, where a host of influencers and media were on hand to usher in a historic fight week, delivered to fight fans by SELA and Matchroom Boxing.
On the undercard, former lightweight title holder Keyshawn Davis returns to the ring as a junior welterweight to face Jamaine Ortiz... WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames puts his belt on the line when the destructive Dominican faces a spirited American challenger in Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams.... Brooklyn’s Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington meanwhile, faces a tough test on home turf when he battles the seasoned Carlos Castro, who last time out in 2024 succumbed to a split decision defeat by Stephen Fulton in Las Vegas. The WBC featherweight title will be on the line... Plus, Brooklyn’s ‘Big Baby’ Jarrell Miller brings heavyweight action when the 37-year-old (26-1-2, 22 KOs) comes up against the ‘Black Lion’ Kingsley Ibeh (16-2-1, 14 KOs), who has previously fought the likes of Jared Anderson and Gerald Washington... Saudi Arabia’s undefeated junior welterweight Ziyad ‘Zizo’ Almaayouf returns to the USA – the scene of his overturned DQ victory in August 2024 against Michal Bulik in Los Angeles – when he meets Miami-based Kevin Castillo.
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Ex-champ Gvozdyk back on Zuffa Boxing 02 |
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Serbia takes on Ukraine in Zuffa Boxing 02's main card opener scheduled for Sunday, February 1st. Radivoje Kalakdzic takes on ex-WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (pictured) in a battle between two seasoned light heavyweights with aspirations of championship gold. Serbia's Kalakdzic (29-3, 21 KOs) will end a 541-day layoff when he returns to action at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, with the Serbian contender keen to re-establish some momentum at 175 pounds. His last outing, back in August 2024, saw Kalakdzic fall to a decision defeat to David Morrell, ending a five-fight win streak. Now he's ready to return, and faces Ukraine's former 175-pound champion. Gvozdyk captured boxing bronze for Ukraine at the London 2012 Olympics before turning pro and knocking out Adonis Stevenson in the eleventh round to capture the light heavyweight world title back 2018 in his sixteenth pro fight. Now standing with a record of 30-2 including the World Series of Boxing, Gvozdyk plans on making another run at championship glory in Zuffa Boxing, starting with victory over former title challenger Kalajdzic on Sunday night.
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Ex-champ Gvozdyk back on Zuffa Boxing 02
Serbia takes on Ukraine in Zuffa Boxing 02's main card opener scheduled for Sunday, February 1st. Radivoje Kalakdzic takes on ex-WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (pictured) in a battle between two seasoned light heavyweights with aspirations of championship gold. Serbia's Kalakdzic (29-3, 21 KOs) will end a 541-day layoff when he returns to action at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, with the Serbian contender keen to re-establish some momentum at 175 pounds. His last outing, back in August 2024, saw Kalakdzic fall to a decision defeat to David Morrell, ending a five-fight win streak. Now he's ready to return, and faces Ukraine's former 175-pound champion. Gvozdyk captured boxing bronze for Ukraine at the London 2012 Olympics before turning pro and knocking out Adonis Stevenson in the eleventh round to capture the light heavyweight world title back 2018 in his sixteenth pro fight. Now standing with a record of 30-2 including the World Series of Boxing, Gvozdyk plans on making another run at championship glory in Zuffa Boxing, starting with victory over former title challenger Kalajdzic on Sunday night.
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Welcome to Zayas vs. Baraou fight week |
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Xander Zayas and Abass Baraou kicked off fight week with a public workout at Distrito T-Mobile in San Juan, Puerto Rico, just three days out from a historic unification showdown. Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs), the WBO junior middleweight world champion, will fight at home for the first time in nearly six years when he meets Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs), the WBA champ, this Saturday, Jan. 31st, at Coliseo de Puerto Rico. Both men earned their crowns last summer and moved directly into a unification showdown, marking only the second time two reigning world champions will meet on the Island. They were joined by Dominican contender Rohan “El Rayo” Polanco (17-0, 10 KOs) and Mexican puncher Christian Gomez (23-6-1, 21 KOs), who will lock horns in the ten-round welterweight co-feature. Also appearing was rising second-generation hopeful Juanmita Lopez De Jesus (4-0, 2 KOs), the 19 year-old son of former world champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez, who faces Conner Goade (8-4-2, 7 KOs) in a six-round tilt at junior bantamweight.
Zayas-Baraou, Polanco-Gomez, and the entire undercard will stream for free on the Top Rank Classics Fast channel in the U.S. beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT. Zayas vs. Baraou will begin at approximately 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
To watch on mobile or desktop, visit trboxing.co/TopRankClassics. To watch on your smart TV, check the availability of FAST channel apps and search for Top Rank Classics on The Roku Channel, Tubi, or Vizio.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with ICON+, Move Concerts, and Noah Assad Presents, tickets are on sale via Ticketera.com.
The Zayas vs. Baraou event will also be shown worldwide in the following territories:
AMERICAS
First Bell: 5:30 p.m. ET
Main Event: 10 p.m. ET
USA: Top Rank Classics Fast channel. Also, the Spanish-language broadcast will air on WAPA América beginning at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT. WAPA América is available as part of the Latino package of major cable and satellite providers, including Spectrum, Comcast, DirecTV, DishLatino, YouTube TV and Fubo, among others.
PlutoTV — Canada
ESPN2/Disney+ — Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Argentina
ESPN/Disney+ — Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and Uruguay
TV Azteca — Mexico
EUROPE
First Bell: 10:30 p.m. GMT
Main Event: 3 a.m GMT (Sunday)
Top Rank on Facebook — UK, Ireland, and Germany
Arena Sport — Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Slovenia
TVP — Poland
Megogo — Ukraine
Nova — Bulgaria
TV3 — Baltics
ASIA-PACIFIC
First Bell: 9:30 a.m. AET (Sunday)
Main Event: 2 p.m. AET
Top Rank on Facebook — Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Australia
CCTV-5 — China
Fight Sports — South Korea
Freedom Media — Kazakhstan
The full fight card is as follows:
Xander Zayas vs. Abass Baraou, twelve rounds for Zayas' WBO and Baraou's WBA 154-pound world titles;
Rohan Polanco vs. Christian Gomez, ten rounds, welterweights;
Juanmita Lopez De Jesus vs. Conner Goade, six rounds, junior bantamweights;
Carlos De Leon Castro vs. Diuhl Olguin, 6 rounds, junior lightweights;
Yadriel Caban vs. Jeremis Hernandez-Torres, four rounds, super flyweights;
Euri Cedeno vs. Etoundi Michel William, ten rounds, middleweights; and
Giovani Santillan vs. Courtney Pennington, ten rounds, junior middleweights.
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Welcome to Zayas vs. Baraou fight week
Xander Zayas and Abass Baraou kicked off fight week with a public workout at Distrito T-Mobile in San Juan, Puerto Rico, just three days out from a historic unification showdown. Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs), the WBO junior middleweight world champion, will fight at home for the first time in nearly six years when he meets Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs), the WBA champ, this Saturday, Jan. 31st, at Coliseo de Puerto Rico. Both men earned their crowns last summer and moved directly into a unification showdown, marking only the second time two reigning world champions will meet on the Island. They were joined by Dominican contender Rohan “El Rayo” Polanco (17-0, 10 KOs) and Mexican puncher Christian Gomez (23-6-1, 21 KOs), who will lock horns in the ten-round welterweight co-feature. Also appearing was rising second-generation hopeful Juanmita Lopez De Jesus (4-0, 2 KOs), the 19 year-old son of former world champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez, who faces Conner Goade (8-4-2, 7 KOs) in a six-round tilt at junior bantamweight.
Zayas-Baraou, Polanco-Gomez, and the entire undercard will stream for free on the Top Rank Classics Fast channel in the U.S. beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT. Zayas vs. Baraou will begin at approximately 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
To watch on mobile or desktop, visit trboxing.co/TopRankClassics. To watch on your smart TV, check the availability of FAST channel apps and search for Top Rank Classics on The Roku Channel, Tubi, or Vizio.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with ICON+, Move Concerts, and Noah Assad Presents, tickets are on sale via Ticketera.com.
The Zayas vs. Baraou event will also be shown worldwide in the following territories:
AMERICAS
First Bell: 5:30 p.m. ET
Main Event: 10 p.m. ET
USA: Top Rank Classics Fast channel. Also, the Spanish-language broadcast will air on WAPA América beginning at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT. WAPA América is available as part of the Latino package of major cable and satellite providers, including Spectrum, Comcast, DirecTV, DishLatino, YouTube TV and Fubo, among others.
PlutoTV — Canada
ESPN2/Disney+ — Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Argentina
ESPN/Disney+ — Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and Uruguay
TV Azteca — Mexico
EUROPE
First Bell: 10:30 p.m. GMT
Main Event: 3 a.m GMT (Sunday)
Top Rank on Facebook — UK, Ireland, and Germany
Arena Sport — Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Slovenia
TVP — Poland
Megogo — Ukraine
Nova — Bulgaria
TV3 — Baltics
ASIA-PACIFIC
First Bell: 9:30 a.m. AET (Sunday)
Main Event: 2 p.m. AET
Top Rank on Facebook — Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Australia
CCTV-5 — China
Fight Sports — South Korea
Freedom Media — Kazakhstan
The full fight card is as follows:
Xander Zayas vs. Abass Baraou, twelve rounds for Zayas' WBO and Baraou's WBA 154-pound world titles;
Rohan Polanco vs. Christian Gomez, ten rounds, welterweights;
Juanmita Lopez De Jesus vs. Conner Goade, six rounds, junior bantamweights;
Carlos De Leon Castro vs. Diuhl Olguin, 6 rounds, junior lightweights;
Yadriel Caban vs. Jeremis Hernandez-Torres, four rounds, super flyweights;
Euri Cedeno vs. Etoundi Michel William, ten rounds, middleweights; and
Giovani Santillan vs. Courtney Pennington, ten rounds, junior middleweights.
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Bantamweights to headline in Zambia this weekend |
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On Saturday, January 31st, Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, will play host to a high-caliber ring confrontation. Local bantamweight David Mwale will be in against a dangerous Tanzanian, Ramadhani Abdallah Milonzi a/k/a Ramadhan Pido. Mwale (11-0) has established himself as one of the most solid figures in Zambian boxing and is known for his blistering hand speed and high boxing IQ. Across the ring, Milonzi (16-3-2) arrives from Tanzania with a reputation as a gritty fighter with exceptional physical endurance.
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Bantamweights to headline in Zambia this weekend
On Saturday, January 31st, Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, will play host to a high-caliber ring confrontation. Local bantamweight David Mwale will be in against a dangerous Tanzanian, Ramadhani Abdallah Milonzi a/k/a Ramadhan Pido. Mwale (11-0) has established himself as one of the most solid figures in Zambian boxing and is known for his blistering hand speed and high boxing IQ. Across the ring, Milonzi (16-3-2) arrives from Tanzania with a reputation as a gritty fighter with exceptional physical endurance.
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Fury to fight Makhmudov on April 11th |
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“The Gypsy King” has come back to reclaim his throne. Former two-time heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs), a master of verbal jabs and mental mind games, will step into the ring for a collision with Arslanbek Makhmudov (21-2, 19 KOs). The fight will be broadcast on Netflix and funded by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entretainment Authority. Coming off two losses to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Aravbia, this will mark Fury’s first fight on British soil in years. Alalshikh confirmed the blockbuster showdown, which sees the two-time former unified heavyweight champion end his retirement to face a knockout artist in Arslanbek Makhmudov, “We are happy that Tyson decided to come out of retirement for what should be an exciting heavyweight clash against Makhmudov.” The fight will take place on April 11th at United Kingdom venue to be named later, marking Netflix’s first live broadcast from the UK.
Makhmudov strips heavyweight boxing down to its core — and most dangerous — elements. Towering at 6-foot-6, with aggression and remarkable power, he has a reputation for pressure and punishment, walking down opponents until they’ve got nowhere left to go. “I am thrilled about the opportunity. I’m coming to deliver a war,” Makhmudov says, adding, “Tyson Fury has been a big champion. I will be more ready than ever to leave with a massive W.”
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Fury to fight Makhmudov on April 11th
“The Gypsy King” has come back to reclaim his throne. Former two-time heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs), a master of verbal jabs and mental mind games, will step into the ring for a collision with Arslanbek Makhmudov (21-2, 19 KOs). The fight will be broadcast on Netflix and funded by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entretainment Authority. Coming off two losses to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Aravbia, this will mark Fury’s first fight on British soil in years. Alalshikh confirmed the blockbuster showdown, which sees the two-time former unified heavyweight champion end his retirement to face a knockout artist in Arslanbek Makhmudov, “We are happy that Tyson decided to come out of retirement for what should be an exciting heavyweight clash against Makhmudov.” The fight will take place on April 11th at United Kingdom venue to be named later, marking Netflix’s first live broadcast from the UK.
Makhmudov strips heavyweight boxing down to its core — and most dangerous — elements. Towering at 6-foot-6, with aggression and remarkable power, he has a reputation for pressure and punishment, walking down opponents until they’ve got nowhere left to go. “I am thrilled about the opportunity. I’m coming to deliver a war,” Makhmudov says, adding, “Tyson Fury has been a big champion. I will be more ready than ever to leave with a massive W.”
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WBC unfairly names Mbilli champion |
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During the WBC’s weekly press conference, it was officially announced that French-Cameroonian Christian Mbilli has been elevated from interim titleholder to WBC super middleweight champion at 168 pounds. That is an unfair result, as Mbilli is coming off a draw vs. Lester Martinez and no rematch has been ordered. Joined by his promoter, Camille Estephan, Mbilli was presented with his belt by WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán. “I want to thank the WBC. I am very happy to be here in Mexico City fulfilling a childhood dream: holding the undisputed Green and Gold championship. I also want to thank my promoter, Camille Estephan, for all the support he has given me,” said the champion. In 2025, Mbilli participated in what some hailed as the “Fight of the Year” in an epic showdown against Guatemala’s Martinez. In that battle, Mbilli displayed unwavering heart and extraordinary resilience, weathering critical moments to earn a hard-fought draw that commanded the respect of fans worldwide.
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WBC unfairly names Mbilli champion
During the WBC’s weekly press conference, it was officially announced that French-Cameroonian Christian Mbilli has been elevated from interim titleholder to WBC super middleweight champion at 168 pounds. That is an unfair result, as Mbilli is coming off a draw vs. Lester Martinez and no rematch has been ordered. Joined by his promoter, Camille Estephan, Mbilli was presented with his belt by WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán. “I want to thank the WBC. I am very happy to be here in Mexico City fulfilling a childhood dream: holding the undisputed Green and Gold championship. I also want to thank my promoter, Camille Estephan, for all the support he has given me,” said the champion. In 2025, Mbilli participated in what some hailed as the “Fight of the Year” in an epic showdown against Guatemala’s Martinez. In that battle, Mbilli displayed unwavering heart and extraordinary resilience, weathering critical moments to earn a hard-fought draw that commanded the respect of fans worldwide.
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Ramos to start new campaign vs. undefeated Smalls |
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On February 28th, the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, will host a pivotal clash in the welterweight division. Undefeated Tahmir Smalls of Philadelphia will step up against a top contender, Abel Ramos. This fight marks a return to the ring for Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs) after a draw in a WBC championship bid against Mario Barrios in November 2024. Now 34 years old, the Arizona native knows that a win over the rising, undefeated Smalls would instantly thrust Ramos back into the world title conversation. Known for his punching power and crowd-pleasing, action-heavy style, Ramos will enjoy hometown support from fans traveling from nearby Phoenix. “I’m ready to put on a great show for my people,” Ramos said during the opening press conference.
Smalls (16-0, 11 KOs) enters the bout following a 2025 campaign in which he notched four victories, including last October when he scored a clear unanimous decision over Jose Roman Vazquez. Smalls’ speed and hunger will be his primary weapons as he looks to overwhelm a veteran who has shared the ring with the division’s elite. However, Ramos brings a level of experience Smalls has yet to face. His ability to absorb punishment and land meaningful power shots in close-quarters exchanges could tip the scales if the fight stretches into the later rounds.
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Ramos to start new campaign vs. undefeated Smalls
On February 28th, the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, will host a pivotal clash in the welterweight division. Undefeated Tahmir Smalls of Philadelphia will step up against a top contender, Abel Ramos. This fight marks a return to the ring for Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs) after a draw in a WBC championship bid against Mario Barrios in November 2024. Now 34 years old, the Arizona native knows that a win over the rising, undefeated Smalls would instantly thrust Ramos back into the world title conversation. Known for his punching power and crowd-pleasing, action-heavy style, Ramos will enjoy hometown support from fans traveling from nearby Phoenix. “I’m ready to put on a great show for my people,” Ramos said during the opening press conference.
Smalls (16-0, 11 KOs) enters the bout following a 2025 campaign in which he notched four victories, including last October when he scored a clear unanimous decision over Jose Roman Vazquez. Smalls’ speed and hunger will be his primary weapons as he looks to overwhelm a veteran who has shared the ring with the division’s elite. However, Ramos brings a level of experience Smalls has yet to face. His ability to absorb punishment and land meaningful power shots in close-quarters exchanges could tip the scales if the fight stretches into the later rounds.
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ProBox back on Friday |
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This Friday night (January 30th), ProBox TV returns with its first Contender Series broadcast of 2026 from Hanover, Maryland. Boxers from Mexico and the Dominican Republic will go to war in the ten-round main event as Bryan Flores and Starling Castillo clash with a junior welterweight ranking on the line... Fan favorite Sulaiman Segawa will look to continue his climb against undefeated Mexican Rene Palacios in the ten-round co-feature... Washington DC lightweight Jordan White is matched against Willie Shaw... junior lightweight Francois Scarboro Jr. will test his one-punch-knockout power against Colombia’s Brandon Valdes... Welterweights Elijah Flores and Thanjhae Teasley will collide with their undefeated 0’s on the line, plus... Undefeated knockout artist Benjamin Johnson takes on Mario Meza.
Three more 50/50 fights are also scheduled. Watch it all free this Friday night at 6:00 pm on Amazon, Fubo, Tubi, or Pluto TV.
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ProBox back on Friday
This Friday night (January 30th), ProBox TV returns with its first Contender Series broadcast of 2026 from Hanover, Maryland. Boxers from Mexico and the Dominican Republic will go to war in the ten-round main event as Bryan Flores and Starling Castillo clash with a junior welterweight ranking on the line... Fan favorite Sulaiman Segawa will look to continue his climb against undefeated Mexican Rene Palacios in the ten-round co-feature... Washington DC lightweight Jordan White is matched against Willie Shaw... junior lightweight Francois Scarboro Jr. will test his one-punch-knockout power against Colombia’s Brandon Valdes... Welterweights Elijah Flores and Thanjhae Teasley will collide with their undefeated 0’s on the line, plus... Undefeated knockout artist Benjamin Johnson takes on Mario Meza.
Three more 50/50 fights are also scheduled. Watch it all free this Friday night at 6:00 pm on Amazon, Fubo, Tubi, or Pluto TV.
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Late results from Las Vegas |
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Ronny Alvarez TKO6 Braulio Matias Ferreira... Fighting in six rounder at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, super middleweight Ronny Alvarez (6-0, 5 KOs) scored a sixth-round TKO over Braulio Matias Ferreira (7-3 with 2 KOs) in a six-round contest on the undercard of a Matchroom Boxing show. The southpaw Alvarez believes his time is coming—and he’s determined to seize it. “I want to be one of the faces of my division. I’m young, hungry, and I’m learning every fight. This is just the beginning of what I plan to show. This win tells me I’m on the right path. Every fight is a step closer to where I want to be, and I’m grateful for these opportunities.” With confidence high, Alvarez voiced a desire to stay active. “I want to get right back in there,” he concluded. “I feel great, and I want to keep building. The more eyes on me, the better.”
Kaipo Gallegos TKO3 Wilson Akinocho... On the same show, local lightweight Kaipo Gallegos (11-0-1, 9 KOs) stopped Wilson Akinocho (3-1) in the third round. Gallegos reflected on the performance that brought the hometown crowd to its feet. “This is exactly how I wanted to look,” said Gallegos on scoring a TKO with an electrifying performance as he spoke with confidence and hunger. “I felt sharp, calm, and in control from the opening bell. When I saw the opening, I jumped on it. I want fans to expect excitement every time I step in the ring.” The young lightweight has long spoken about his ambition to reach the sport’s elite, and Saturday night felt like a step closer. “I dream big because I work big,” he continued about his dreams of becoming the next big star in the division. “I want to be a world champion, and I want to be a name fans remember. Nights like this are how that journey really starts.” Gallegos also acknowledged the importance of the moment in the bigger picture on what this win did for his career. “This win gives me momentum and confidence. Being on a stage like this shows me I belong here. I’m ready for tougher challenges. I want to be back as soon as possible. The more I fight, the better I get. I’m healthy, motivated, and ready whenever my team says go.”
Boxlab Promotions President Amaury Piedra believes the future is extremely bright for both fighters. “Kaipo and Ronny represent the new generation of boxing talent,” said Piedra. “They combine discipline, intelligence, and genuine passion for the sport. Their performances on Saturday were not accidents, they are the result of thoughtful development and commitment. I firmly believe both have the tools to become major stars in boxing.”
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Late results from Las Vegas
Ronny Alvarez TKO6 Braulio Matias Ferreira... Fighting in six rounder at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, super middleweight Ronny Alvarez (6-0, 5 KOs) scored a sixth-round TKO over Braulio Matias Ferreira (7-3 with 2 KOs) in a six-round contest on the undercard of a Matchroom Boxing show. The southpaw Alvarez believes his time is coming—and he’s determined to seize it. “I want to be one of the faces of my division. I’m young, hungry, and I’m learning every fight. This is just the beginning of what I plan to show. This win tells me I’m on the right path. Every fight is a step closer to where I want to be, and I’m grateful for these opportunities.” With confidence high, Alvarez voiced a desire to stay active. “I want to get right back in there,” he concluded. “I feel great, and I want to keep building. The more eyes on me, the better.”
Kaipo Gallegos TKO3 Wilson Akinocho... On the same show, local lightweight Kaipo Gallegos (11-0-1, 9 KOs) stopped Wilson Akinocho (3-1) in the third round. Gallegos reflected on the performance that brought the hometown crowd to its feet. “This is exactly how I wanted to look,” said Gallegos on scoring a TKO with an electrifying performance as he spoke with confidence and hunger. “I felt sharp, calm, and in control from the opening bell. When I saw the opening, I jumped on it. I want fans to expect excitement every time I step in the ring.” The young lightweight has long spoken about his ambition to reach the sport’s elite, and Saturday night felt like a step closer. “I dream big because I work big,” he continued about his dreams of becoming the next big star in the division. “I want to be a world champion, and I want to be a name fans remember. Nights like this are how that journey really starts.” Gallegos also acknowledged the importance of the moment in the bigger picture on what this win did for his career. “This win gives me momentum and confidence. Being on a stage like this shows me I belong here. I’m ready for tougher challenges. I want to be back as soon as possible. The more I fight, the better I get. I’m healthy, motivated, and ready whenever my team says go.”
Boxlab Promotions President Amaury Piedra believes the future is extremely bright for both fighters. “Kaipo and Ronny represent the new generation of boxing talent,” said Piedra. “They combine discipline, intelligence, and genuine passion for the sport. Their performances on Saturday were not accidents, they are the result of thoughtful development and commitment. I firmly believe both have the tools to become major stars in boxing.”
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Tickets still available for Lopez vs. Stevenson |
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On Saturday, world junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez and undefeated three-division champion Shakur Stevenson take over Madison Square Garden in New York City for a big night of boxing. According to the venue, limited tickets remain available for purchase. Here is the main fight card:
World & WBO junior welterweight championship
Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson;
Junior welterweights
Keyshawn Davis (ex lightweight title holder) vs. Jamaine Ortiz;
Vacant WBC featherweight title
Bruce Carrington vs. Carlos Castro;
WBC middleweight title
Carlos Adames vs. Austin Williams;
Heavyweights
Jarrell Miller vs. Kingsley Ibeh; and
Welterweights
Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Kevin Castillo.
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Tickets still available for Lopez vs. Stevenson
On Saturday, world junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez and undefeated three-division champion Shakur Stevenson take over Madison Square Garden in New York City for a big night of boxing. According to the venue, limited tickets remain available for purchase. Here is the main fight card:
World & WBO junior welterweight championship
Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson;
Junior welterweights
Keyshawn Davis (ex lightweight title holder) vs. Jamaine Ortiz;
Vacant WBC featherweight title
Bruce Carrington vs. Carlos Castro;
WBC middleweight title
Carlos Adames vs. Austin Williams;
Heavyweights
Jarrell Miller vs. Kingsley Ibeh; and
Welterweights
Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Kevin Castillo.
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Jarrell Miller will finally get his moment in Madison Square Garden |
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Jarrell Miller has long craved a major world title fight at heavyweight. The brash New Yorker’s moment in the spotlight could have occurred in 2019 when he was scheduled to be the man challenging for the world heavyweight championship. Instead, he tested positive for performance enhancing substances. The opportunity then went to Andy Ruiz who would go on to destroy then-champion Anthony Joshua inside Madison Square Garden. Miller will finally sample boxing’s Mecca this Saturday night, but it has been a twisted journey to the destination that was intended to be the setting where he could have become world heavyweight champion six years ago. Long before that night, Miller had prophesied he would be the man to rid Joshua of his heavyweight titles as he constantly disrespected the British fighter in interviews and to his face.
Losing that opportunity after failing a drug test, Miller has since been disregarded by the sport and the bad guy persona he carefully crafted has taken on a more sinister tone and left him inactive for almost four years. This weekend, Miller faces Kingsley Ibeh and the fight surely represents his final chance to push on and compete with the biggest names at heavyweight, a platform Miller has long believed he is capable of operating on.
Losing his unbeaten record to Daniel Dubois in 2023, there was a belief that Miller’s window for success may have been closed, but he demonstrated his qualities against Ruiz the following year in a fight that many believed Miller should have won despite the fight being scored a draw.
That remains the last time that Miller has seen any action and he approaches Ibeh following another lengthy absence, but this must be the last time when Miller’s activity is called into question. A win over Ibeh has to open doors, and if he can get past the American based Nigerian then who knows what could be next for Miller?
Could he revisit a showdown with Fabio Wardley?
The pair were separated at a press conference last year when Miller was intended to face the Ipswich man at his home city’s football stadium, but the bout was postponed when Miller endured an injury leaving Wardley to instead knock out Justis Huni.
With Wardley now the WBO champion, he holds something that will surely appeal to Miller, and with the pair already bitter rivals, reigniting that feud for the heavyweight title could end up being one of the most popular heavyweight fights of 2026.
The road to redemption will likely never end for Miller as his failure to erase suspicion regarding his failed drug test already leaves a stain on his career to most observers of the sport. There was widespread applause when he was stopped by Dubois, but Miller’s aspirations are bigger than the opinions decimating him, and he is fully aware that victory over Ibeh will take him one step closer to his dream.
That wish almost came true in 2019 when Miller held hopes of dethroning Joshua in the Garden on what turned out to be one of the most dramatic nights in boxing's history. If Wardley, or a similar lucrative fight comes next, the same venue could hold the same significance.
Watch López vs. Stevenson only on DAZN PPV
Teofimo López and Shakur Stevenson headline the Ring VI fight night in New York, exclusively on DAZN PPV, on January 31st, with Miller vs. Ibeh as a supporting bout. Purchase as a one-off PPV, or get included at no extra cost with a DAZN Ultimate Tier subscription, which includes a minimum of 12 PPV events per year, plus another 185 fight nights. Monthly and annual options available.
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Jarrell Miller will finally get his moment in Madison Square Garden
Jarrell Miller has long craved a major world title fight at heavyweight. The brash New Yorker’s moment in the spotlight could have occurred in 2019 when he was scheduled to be the man challenging for the world heavyweight championship. Instead, he tested positive for performance enhancing substances. The opportunity then went to Andy Ruiz who would go on to destroy then-champion Anthony Joshua inside Madison Square Garden. Miller will finally sample boxing’s Mecca this Saturday night, but it has been a twisted journey to the destination that was intended to be the setting where he could have become world heavyweight champion six years ago. Long before that night, Miller had prophesied he would be the man to rid Joshua of his heavyweight titles as he constantly disrespected the British fighter in interviews and to his face.
Losing that opportunity after failing a drug test, Miller has since been disregarded by the sport and the bad guy persona he carefully crafted has taken on a more sinister tone and left him inactive for almost four years. This weekend, Miller faces Kingsley Ibeh and the fight surely represents his final chance to push on and compete with the biggest names at heavyweight, a platform Miller has long believed he is capable of operating on.
Losing his unbeaten record to Daniel Dubois in 2023, there was a belief that Miller’s window for success may have been closed, but he demonstrated his qualities against Ruiz the following year in a fight that many believed Miller should have won despite the fight being scored a draw.
That remains the last time that Miller has seen any action and he approaches Ibeh following another lengthy absence, but this must be the last time when Miller’s activity is called into question. A win over Ibeh has to open doors, and if he can get past the American based Nigerian then who knows what could be next for Miller?
Could he revisit a showdown with Fabio Wardley?
The pair were separated at a press conference last year when Miller was intended to face the Ipswich man at his home city’s football stadium, but the bout was postponed when Miller endured an injury leaving Wardley to instead knock out Justis Huni.
With Wardley now the WBO champion, he holds something that will surely appeal to Miller, and with the pair already bitter rivals, reigniting that feud for the heavyweight title could end up being one of the most popular heavyweight fights of 2026.
The road to redemption will likely never end for Miller as his failure to erase suspicion regarding his failed drug test already leaves a stain on his career to most observers of the sport. There was widespread applause when he was stopped by Dubois, but Miller’s aspirations are bigger than the opinions decimating him, and he is fully aware that victory over Ibeh will take him one step closer to his dream.
That wish almost came true in 2019 when Miller held hopes of dethroning Joshua in the Garden on what turned out to be one of the most dramatic nights in boxing's history. If Wardley, or a similar lucrative fight comes next, the same venue could hold the same significance.
Watch López vs. Stevenson only on DAZN PPV
Teofimo López and Shakur Stevenson headline the Ring VI fight night in New York, exclusively on DAZN PPV, on January 31st, with Miller vs. Ibeh as a supporting bout. Purchase as a one-off PPV, or get included at no extra cost with a DAZN Ultimate Tier subscription, which includes a minimum of 12 PPV events per year, plus another 185 fight nights. Monthly and annual options available.
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Azim injury causes Boxxer to retool for Saturday |
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Rising junior welterweight Adam Azim was due to headline in London this weekend but his fight against Gustavo Lemos has been postponed after both fighters suffered hand injuries in training. Their IBF eliminator will be rescheduled for later this year. Francesca Hennessy and Gradus Kraus, will fight in separate co-features on the Boxxer show this Saturday, January 31st at the Copper Box Arena, broadcast live and free-to-air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. Hennessy can take another big step towards world glory when she faces fellow unbeaten British boxer Ellie Boutell in a final eliminator for the WBC bantamweight title. Kraus will take on Boris Crighton (13-6) in light heavyweight action after having signed a long-term deal with the British-based promoter in December.
Hennessy returns to BBC television after a perfect performance against former WBC 102-pound champ Fabiana Bytyqi. The 21 year-old is aiming is to become the youngest ever undisputed world champion, a record currently held by Gabriela Fundora, who claimed all four major titles at the age of 22. A win would put Hennessy in line to face Cherneka ‘Sugar Neekz’ Johnson, the current undisputed world bantamweight champion. However, Boutell (7-0-1), the Shanghai-based Cambridge graduate, will be coming into the bout with her own world title ambitions.
Kraus is 12-0 including three wins in IBA pro conpetition. The 24-year old from Oss, Netherlands has stopped nine of his opponents inside the distance and holds an amateur win over two-time Olympic gold medallist Arlen Lopez.
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Azim injury causes Boxxer to retool for Saturday
Rising junior welterweight Adam Azim was due to headline in London this weekend but his fight against Gustavo Lemos has been postponed after both fighters suffered hand injuries in training. Their IBF eliminator will be rescheduled for later this year. Francesca Hennessy and Gradus Kraus, will fight in separate co-features on the Boxxer show this Saturday, January 31st at the Copper Box Arena, broadcast live and free-to-air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. Hennessy can take another big step towards world glory when she faces fellow unbeaten British boxer Ellie Boutell in a final eliminator for the WBC bantamweight title. Kraus will take on Boris Crighton (13-6) in light heavyweight action after having signed a long-term deal with the British-based promoter in December.
Hennessy returns to BBC television after a perfect performance against former WBC 102-pound champ Fabiana Bytyqi. The 21 year-old is aiming is to become the youngest ever undisputed world champion, a record currently held by Gabriela Fundora, who claimed all four major titles at the age of 22. A win would put Hennessy in line to face Cherneka ‘Sugar Neekz’ Johnson, the current undisputed world bantamweight champion. However, Boutell (7-0-1), the Shanghai-based Cambridge graduate, will be coming into the bout with her own world title ambitions.
Kraus is 12-0 including three wins in IBA pro conpetition. The 24-year old from Oss, Netherlands has stopped nine of his opponents inside the distance and holds an amateur win over two-time Olympic gold medallist Arlen Lopez.
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Rematch clause costs Williamson a title shot |
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Troy Williamson has officially vacated his European super middleweight title ahead of his rematch with Callum Simpson. Williamson upset the odds to dethrone his domestic rival for the British, Commonwealth and European belts in December. But while Williamson had hoped to move up to world level with his biggest career triumph, his hopes have been dashed. A rematch clause invoked by Simpson's promoter Boxxer means Williamson will also miss out on a world title shot, for the vacant IBF title bout against Osleys Iglesias. Instead, Williamson will return to face a familiar foe for the second time, albeit with one less strap on the line between them.
Iglesias meanwhile appears primed to face Pavel Silyagin for the vacant IBF crown, amid major upheaval in the division. Terence Crawford's retirement after defeating Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez last year has scattered the belts, sparking a free-for-all.
As for the European title, EBU rules dictate no direct rematches can be fought for their titles, meaning the Darlington native has given up the belt. Jose Luis Navarro and Pierre Hubert Di Bombe are expected to fight for the now-vacant crown in the coming months. However, if Jacob Bank defeats William Scull this weekend, the former could well enter the conversation for a shot too.
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Rematch clause costs Williamson a title shot
Troy Williamson has officially vacated his European super middleweight title ahead of his rematch with Callum Simpson. Williamson upset the odds to dethrone his domestic rival for the British, Commonwealth and European belts in December. But while Williamson had hoped to move up to world level with his biggest career triumph, his hopes have been dashed. A rematch clause invoked by Simpson's promoter Boxxer means Williamson will also miss out on a world title shot, for the vacant IBF title bout against Osleys Iglesias. Instead, Williamson will return to face a familiar foe for the second time, albeit with one less strap on the line between them.
Iglesias meanwhile appears primed to face Pavel Silyagin for the vacant IBF crown, amid major upheaval in the division. Terence Crawford's retirement after defeating Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez last year has scattered the belts, sparking a free-for-all.
As for the European title, EBU rules dictate no direct rematches can be fought for their titles, meaning the Darlington native has given up the belt. Jose Luis Navarro and Pierre Hubert Di Bombe are expected to fight for the now-vacant crown in the coming months. However, if Jacob Bank defeats William Scull this weekend, the former could well enter the conversation for a shot too.
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Deal made for Frank Sanchez vs. Richard Torrez ? |
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UPDATE: The IBF has called off Tuesday's purse bid for a heavyweight elimination bout. Boxingtalk understands that the elimination bout, between Frank Sanchez vs Richard Torrez, Jr., will go forward without a purse bid because the parties have reached a deal. The fight will likely take place on a PBC card scheduled for March, although details remain scant. Sanchez (25-1 with 18 KOs) last fought in February, when he bounced back from his first career loss with a third-round knockout of Ramon Olivas Echeverria (18-25 with 12 KOs). In that win, Sanchez was in the ring for the first time since a seventh-round knockout loss to Agit Kabayel in May of 2024. Though the win was hardly a challenge for Sanchez, it got him back into position for the IBF eliminator. Torres, a 2021 Olympic silver medal winner, is14-0 as a professional.
PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE:
JAN. 22, 2026: JWith ex-champion Daniel Dubois passing on the opportunity to face Frank Sanchez in an IBF heavyweight eliminator, on December 2, 2025, the IBF ordered Richard Torrez, Jr. to begin negotiations with Sanchez for the IBF #1 ranking. An agreement was not reached during the time frame set forth by the IBF, so the IBF has scheduled a purse bid for January 22nd-- subsequently postponed to January 27th.. Sanchez (25-1 with 18 KOs) last fought in February, when he bounced back from his first career loss with a third-round knockout of Ramon Olivas Echeverria (18-25 with 12 KOs). In that fight, Sanchez was in the ring for the first time since a seventh-round knockout loss to Agit Kabayel in May of 2024. Though the win was hardly a challenge for Sanchez, it got him back into position for the IBF eliminator. Torres, a 2021 Olympic silver medal winner, is14-0 as a professional.
NOV. 13, 2025: The IBF has postponed a Frank Sanchez vs. Daniel Dubois purse for one week. It was scheduled for today (November 13th) but has been postponed to November 20th. If the bout occurs, it will be a heavyweight elimination bout. The e-mail stated, "the IBF is continuing in its efforts to schedule a heavyweight elimination bout."
NOV. 4, 2025: In August, a purse bid was held for a fight between Frank Sanchez and Efe Ajagba, but the bids were not high enough to entice the boxers to accept, particularly Ajagba. The IBF moved on to a fromer champion, ordering Sanchez to begin negotiations with Daniel Dubois on October 7th. Dubois' last fight was a KO loss in a unification fight vs. the true world champion Oleksandr Usyk. Normally, the IBF does not invite a boxer coming off a knockout loss to take part in an eliminator, but apparently an exception was made for Dubois. In any event, no agreement was reached between Sanchez and Dubois so the IBF has scheduled a purse bid for November 13th. It remains to be seen whether Dubois will be interested in a fight vs. the Cuban Sanchez. After a 2024 loss to Agit Kabayel, Sanchez had one very low-level fight in 2025, beating a man with a losing record in February.
AUG 26, 2025: Sampson Boxing won a purse bid today and now has the right to promote an IBF heavyweight elimination bout between Cuba's Frank Sanchez and Nigeria's Efe Ajagba. Sampson's winning bid was $302,000, which will be split 60% for Ajagba and 40% for Sanchez, assuming both men accept the fight. A decision from the boxers to accept or decline is due in fifteen days. Top Rank, Ajagba's promoter, put up a losing bid for $210,000. Under IBF rules, Sampson must schedule the bout to take place within 28 to 90 days and not more than 90 days from today, which is Monday, November 24th. If the fight happens, it will be a rematch of a ten-round fight in 2021 that Sanchez won by unanimous decision. The winner becomes the IBF mandatory contender for undefeated world champion Oleksandr Usyk, but the path to an actual title shot is unclear because Usyk owns all four major heavyweight titles which puts him in a position to pick and choose his fights. Sanchez (25-1 with 18 KOs) last fought in February, when he bounced back from his first career loss with a third-round knockout of Ramon Olivas Echeverria (18-25 with 12 KOs). Echeverria was once on the losing end of a fixed fight. Sanchez was fighting for the first time since his seventh-round knockout loss to Agit Kabayel in May of 2024. Though the win was hardly a challenge for Sanchez, it got him back into position for the IBF eliminator. Ajagba (20-1-1) last fought in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia against 299-pound Martin Bakole. After ten rounds, Bakole was fortunate to come away with a draw against Efe Ajagba (pictured). After ten rounds, the judges adjudicated the bout 96-94 for Ajagba, 95-95 and 95-95, making it a majority draw. It wasn't a robbery, but Ajagba was more active, had superior ring generalship and seemed to land more punches. Bakole landed a few harder punches, and that was enough to convince two judges to award a stalemate. AUG. 19, 2025: A purse bid for an IBF heavyweight eliminator is back on the books after a few previous postponements.. The promotional rights to a potential Frank Sanchez vs. Efe Ajagba rematch is scheduled to be auctioned off on Tuesday, August 26, 2025 at 12 noon. Sanchez defeated Ajagba by unanimous decision in 2021, but with heavyweight contenders Filip Hrgovic and Derek Chisora jockeying for bigger fights, Sanchez and Ajagba are the two highest ranked fighters in the IBF ratings to enter the elimination process. Undefeated world champion Oleksandr Usyk owns all four major heavyweight titles, including the IBF version. AUG. 11, 2025: The IBF announced that the Efe Ajagba vs. Frank Sanchez purse bid has been postponed until further notice. AUG. 4, 2025: When Filip Hrgovic pulled out of the IBF heavyweight elimination process, on July 24th, the IBF ordered #3 ranked Efe Ajagba and #4 ranked Frank Sanchez to begin negotiations for an eliminator for the vacant #1 position. Derek Chisora sits at #2. Carl Moretti of Top Rank, representing Ajagba, confirmed that Ajagba would like to proceed straight to a purse bid, which is permitted under IBF rules. The IBF initially scheduled a purse for Tuesday, August 5th but that has now been pushed back one week until August 12th. Oleksandr Usyk owns all four major heavyweight titles, including the IBF version. MAY 19, 2024: In a WBC heavyweight eliminator held on the big Riyadh, Saudi Arabia show, Agit Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs) made a huge career move forward, stopping the favored and previously undefeated Frank Sanchez (24-1, 17 KOs) in round seven. Kabayel defeated Sanchez with a strong body attack. The normally mobile Sanchez fought with a brace on his right knee. Kabayel is Kurdish but lives in Germany. OCT. 10, 2021: Cuban heavyweight Frank Sanchez (19-0, 13 KOs) scored one knockdown on his way to a comfortable, ten-round unanimous decision win over Efe Ajagba. Sanchez used his superior boxing skills to keep the hard-hitting Ajagba (15-1, 12 KOs) off-balance for the entire fight. The “Cuban Flash” displayed his power as well, flooring Ajagba with a hard right in the seventh. A follow-up left hook which landed a tick after Ajagba’s knee hit the canvas Ajagba made it to his feet and survived the round but never seriously threatened on his way to the first defeat of his career. Sanchez said afterwards, "I knew I was going to win all the rounds because I’m much better than him technically. I knew that if I connected, he would fall and he did fall. My game plan was always to frustrate him and go in for the attack."
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Deal made for Frank Sanchez vs. Richard Torrez ?
UPDATE: The IBF has called off Tuesday's purse bid for a heavyweight elimination bout. Boxingtalk understands that the elimination bout, between Frank Sanchez vs Richard Torrez, Jr., will go forward without a purse bid because the parties have reached a deal. The fight will likely take place on a PBC card scheduled for March, although details remain scant. Sanchez (25-1 with 18 KOs) last fought in February, when he bounced back from his first career loss with a third-round knockout of Ramon Olivas Echeverria (18-25 with 12 KOs). In that win, Sanchez was in the ring for the first time since a seventh-round knockout loss to Agit Kabayel in May of 2024. Though the win was hardly a challenge for Sanchez, it got him back into position for the IBF eliminator. Torres, a 2021 Olympic silver medal winner, is14-0 as a professional.
PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE:
JAN. 22, 2026: JWith ex-champion Daniel Dubois passing on the opportunity to face Frank Sanchez in an IBF heavyweight eliminator, on December 2, 2025, the IBF ordered Richard Torrez, Jr. to begin negotiations with Sanchez for the IBF #1 ranking. An agreement was not reached during the time frame set forth by the IBF, so the IBF has scheduled a purse bid for January 22nd-- subsequently postponed to January 27th.. Sanchez (25-1 with 18 KOs) last fought in February, when he bounced back from his first career loss with a third-round knockout of Ramon Olivas Echeverria (18-25 with 12 KOs). In that fight, Sanchez was in the ring for the first time since a seventh-round knockout loss to Agit Kabayel in May of 2024. Though the win was hardly a challenge for Sanchez, it got him back into position for the IBF eliminator. Torres, a 2021 Olympic silver medal winner, is14-0 as a professional.
NOV. 13, 2025: The IBF has postponed a Frank Sanchez vs. Daniel Dubois purse for one week. It was scheduled for today (November 13th) but has been postponed to November 20th. If the bout occurs, it will be a heavyweight elimination bout. The e-mail stated, "the IBF is continuing in its efforts to schedule a heavyweight elimination bout."
NOV. 4, 2025: In August, a purse bid was held for a fight between Frank Sanchez and Efe Ajagba, but the bids were not high enough to entice the boxers to accept, particularly Ajagba. The IBF moved on to a fromer champion, ordering Sanchez to begin negotiations with Daniel Dubois on October 7th. Dubois' last fight was a KO loss in a unification fight vs. the true world champion Oleksandr Usyk. Normally, the IBF does not invite a boxer coming off a knockout loss to take part in an eliminator, but apparently an exception was made for Dubois. In any event, no agreement was reached between Sanchez and Dubois so the IBF has scheduled a purse bid for November 13th. It remains to be seen whether Dubois will be interested in a fight vs. the Cuban Sanchez. After a 2024 loss to Agit Kabayel, Sanchez had one very low-level fight in 2025, beating a man with a losing record in February.
AUG 26, 2025: Sampson Boxing won a purse bid today and now has the right to promote an IBF heavyweight elimination bout between Cuba's Frank Sanchez and Nigeria's Efe Ajagba. Sampson's winning bid was $302,000, which will be split 60% for Ajagba and 40% for Sanchez, assuming both men accept the fight. A decision from the boxers to accept or decline is due in fifteen days. Top Rank, Ajagba's promoter, put up a losing bid for $210,000. Under IBF rules, Sampson must schedule the bout to take place within 28 to 90 days and not more than 90 days from today, which is Monday, November 24th. If the fight happens, it will be a rematch of a ten-round fight in 2021 that Sanchez won by unanimous decision. The winner becomes the IBF mandatory contender for undefeated world champion Oleksandr Usyk, but the path to an actual title shot is unclear because Usyk owns all four major heavyweight titles which puts him in a position to pick and choose his fights. Sanchez (25-1 with 18 KOs) last fought in February, when he bounced back from his first career loss with a third-round knockout of Ramon Olivas Echeverria (18-25 with 12 KOs). Echeverria was once on the losing end of a fixed fight. Sanchez was fighting for the first time since his seventh-round knockout loss to Agit Kabayel in May of 2024. Though the win was hardly a challenge for Sanchez, it got him back into position for the IBF eliminator. Ajagba (20-1-1) last fought in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia against 299-pound Martin Bakole. After ten rounds, Bakole was fortunate to come away with a draw against Efe Ajagba (pictured). After ten rounds, the judges adjudicated the bout 96-94 for Ajagba, 95-95 and 95-95, making it a majority draw. It wasn't a robbery, but Ajagba was more active, had superior ring generalship and seemed to land more punches. Bakole landed a few harder punches, and that was enough to convince two judges to award a stalemate. AUG. 19, 2025: A purse bid for an IBF heavyweight eliminator is back on the books after a few previous postponements.. The promotional rights to a potential Frank Sanchez vs. Efe Ajagba rematch is scheduled to be auctioned off on Tuesday, August 26, 2025 at 12 noon. Sanchez defeated Ajagba by unanimous decision in 2021, but with heavyweight contenders Filip Hrgovic and Derek Chisora jockeying for bigger fights, Sanchez and Ajagba are the two highest ranked fighters in the IBF ratings to enter the elimination process. Undefeated world champion Oleksandr Usyk owns all four major heavyweight titles, including the IBF version. AUG. 11, 2025: The IBF announced that the Efe Ajagba vs. Frank Sanchez purse bid has been postponed until further notice. AUG. 4, 2025: When Filip Hrgovic pulled out of the IBF heavyweight elimination process, on July 24th, the IBF ordered #3 ranked Efe Ajagba and #4 ranked Frank Sanchez to begin negotiations for an eliminator for the vacant #1 position. Derek Chisora sits at #2. Carl Moretti of Top Rank, representing Ajagba, confirmed that Ajagba would like to proceed straight to a purse bid, which is permitted under IBF rules. The IBF initially scheduled a purse for Tuesday, August 5th but that has now been pushed back one week until August 12th. Oleksandr Usyk owns all four major heavyweight titles, including the IBF version. MAY 19, 2024: In a WBC heavyweight eliminator held on the big Riyadh, Saudi Arabia show, Agit Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs) made a huge career move forward, stopping the favored and previously undefeated Frank Sanchez (24-1, 17 KOs) in round seven. Kabayel defeated Sanchez with a strong body attack. The normally mobile Sanchez fought with a brace on his right knee. Kabayel is Kurdish but lives in Germany. OCT. 10, 2021: Cuban heavyweight Frank Sanchez (19-0, 13 KOs) scored one knockdown on his way to a comfortable, ten-round unanimous decision win over Efe Ajagba. Sanchez used his superior boxing skills to keep the hard-hitting Ajagba (15-1, 12 KOs) off-balance for the entire fight. The “Cuban Flash” displayed his power as well, flooring Ajagba with a hard right in the seventh. A follow-up left hook which landed a tick after Ajagba’s knee hit the canvas Ajagba made it to his feet and survived the round but never seriously threatened on his way to the first defeat of his career. Sanchez said afterwards, "I knew I was going to win all the rounds because I’m much better than him technically. I knew that if I connected, he would fall and he did fall. My game plan was always to frustrate him and go in for the attack."
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Introducing Junior Andrés Narváez |
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This Saturday, January 31st, the historic stadium of the Argentine Boxing Federation on Castro Barros Street in Buenos Aires will host a bantamweight contest featuring undefeated Junior Andrés Narváez against Dominican-born, Argentine-based Yeury “El Domi” Otañez. At just 20 years old, Narváez (5-0-1, 1 KO) opens his 2026 campaign with the most ambitious challenge of his young but already demanding professional career. The son of former two-division world champion Omar Narváez enters this bout after a formative 2025 season, capped by a gritty majority draw against Abel Silva last December. Pace and distance management will be key as Narváez navigates the scheduled ten rounds—his first fight set for that distance. With the bout taking place at the 118-pound limit, Otañez’s rehydration process could also prove decisive, given his history of campaigning at heavier weights.
Trained by his father at the municipal gym in Trelew, Narváez has shown the family’s unmistakable technical DNA: a sharp southpaw stance, constant lateral movement, and a stiff, authoritative jab. For the Chubut native, this fight representa an opportunity to get noticed on a large stage.
Across the ring stands Otañez (5-1-2, 2 KOs). The 25-year old now residies in Tristán Suárez, Buenos Aires, and is no stranger to springing surprises at the FAB. Otañez is coming off a strong 2025 run, highlighted by a solid unanimous decision victory over Daniel Alberto Díaz in November. Fighting out of an orthodox stance and boasting a sturdier physical frame, “El Domi” has spent much of his career competing at super bantamweight and featherweight. His game plan is clear: apply pressure, test the young prospect’s composure, and use his experience in hard-fought battles to snatch both Narváez’s unbeaten record and the title.
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Introducing Junior Andrés Narváez
This Saturday, January 31st, the historic stadium of the Argentine Boxing Federation on Castro Barros Street in Buenos Aires will host a bantamweight contest featuring undefeated Junior Andrés Narváez against Dominican-born, Argentine-based Yeury “El Domi” Otañez. At just 20 years old, Narváez (5-0-1, 1 KO) opens his 2026 campaign with the most ambitious challenge of his young but already demanding professional career. The son of former two-division world champion Omar Narváez enters this bout after a formative 2025 season, capped by a gritty majority draw against Abel Silva last December. Pace and distance management will be key as Narváez navigates the scheduled ten rounds—his first fight set for that distance. With the bout taking place at the 118-pound limit, Otañez’s rehydration process could also prove decisive, given his history of campaigning at heavier weights.
Trained by his father at the municipal gym in Trelew, Narváez has shown the family’s unmistakable technical DNA: a sharp southpaw stance, constant lateral movement, and a stiff, authoritative jab. For the Chubut native, this fight representa an opportunity to get noticed on a large stage.
Across the ring stands Otañez (5-1-2, 2 KOs). The 25-year old now residies in Tristán Suárez, Buenos Aires, and is no stranger to springing surprises at the FAB. Otañez is coming off a strong 2025 run, highlighted by a solid unanimous decision victory over Daniel Alberto Díaz in November. Fighting out of an orthodox stance and boasting a sturdier physical frame, “El Domi” has spent much of his career competing at super bantamweight and featherweight. His game plan is clear: apply pressure, test the young prospect’s composure, and use his experience in hard-fought battles to snatch both Narváez’s unbeaten record and the title.
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Welcome to Lopez vs. Stevenson fight week |
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Teofimo Lopez (pictured) is in a bullish mood ahead of his hometown showdown with Shakur Stevenson on Saturday. Lopez defends his world (and WBO) light welterweight championship on the Ring 6 card at Madison Square Garden, live and exclusive on DAZN PPV. Stevenson, from nearby New Jersey, is stepping up in a bid to become a four-weight world champion and he is also aiming to maintain his unbeaten record in New York this weekend.
However, Lopez has promised to expose Stevenson's flaws and show the world why he is the reigning champion. In an interview with DAZN, Lopez said: “That’s my job. My job is to show the true flaws [in Stevenson] that they can’t see, that the world cannot see. My job is to show the world that nobody can beat me, and I make it look pretty. It's going to be much prettier when I see him laid out flat.”
The showdown between the two American stars is considered one of the best fights in boxing right now and Lopez is urging fans now to miss this mouth-watering contest. “I’m excited. I think the fight fans and everyone around the world of boxing should tune in on this. I think this is a great moment right now.”
Teofimo López and Shakur Stevenson headline the Ring 6 fight night in New York, exclusively on DAZN PPV, on January 31, 2026. Purchase as a one-off PPV, or get included at no extra cost with a DAZN Ultimate Tier subscription, which includes minimum of 12 PPV events per year, plus another 185 fight nights. Monthly and annual options available.
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Welcome to Lopez vs. Stevenson fight week
Teofimo Lopez (pictured) is in a bullish mood ahead of his hometown showdown with Shakur Stevenson on Saturday. Lopez defends his world (and WBO) light welterweight championship on the Ring 6 card at Madison Square Garden, live and exclusive on DAZN PPV. Stevenson, from nearby New Jersey, is stepping up in a bid to become a four-weight world champion and he is also aiming to maintain his unbeaten record in New York this weekend.
However, Lopez has promised to expose Stevenson's flaws and show the world why he is the reigning champion. In an interview with DAZN, Lopez said: “That’s my job. My job is to show the true flaws [in Stevenson] that they can’t see, that the world cannot see. My job is to show the world that nobody can beat me, and I make it look pretty. It's going to be much prettier when I see him laid out flat.”
The showdown between the two American stars is considered one of the best fights in boxing right now and Lopez is urging fans now to miss this mouth-watering contest. “I’m excited. I think the fight fans and everyone around the world of boxing should tune in on this. I think this is a great moment right now.”
Teofimo López and Shakur Stevenson headline the Ring 6 fight night in New York, exclusively on DAZN PPV, on January 31, 2026. Purchase as a one-off PPV, or get included at no extra cost with a DAZN Ultimate Tier subscription, which includes minimum of 12 PPV events per year, plus another 185 fight nights. Monthly and annual options available.
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Estrada looking at April for tough fight vs. Nasukawa |
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April is being considered as the date for a WBC eliminator between Tenshin Nasukawa and Juan Francisco Estrada (pictured), with Tokyo as the potential host city. If finalized, it will be a match-up that draws a ton of attention in Japan. Nasukawa is a very popular figure in Japan. He is a former kickboxing champion and also fought an exhibition against Floyd Mayweather. As a boxer, he owns a record of 7-1 with 2 knockouts. His transition to professional boxing remains under scrutiny, and a win over Estrada would significantly redefine his standing. Estrada, a former multi-division champion and proven warrior from Mexico, brings maturity via experience in many high-pressure fights. Estrada has built a record of 45-4 with 28 knockouts and wins over Chocolotito Gonzalez and Srissaket Sor Rungvisai among others.
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Estrada looking at April for tough fight vs. Nasukawa
April is being considered as the date for a WBC eliminator between Tenshin Nasukawa and Juan Francisco Estrada (pictured), with Tokyo as the potential host city. If finalized, it will be a match-up that draws a ton of attention in Japan. Nasukawa is a very popular figure in Japan. He is a former kickboxing champion and also fought an exhibition against Floyd Mayweather. As a boxer, he owns a record of 7-1 with 2 knockouts. His transition to professional boxing remains under scrutiny, and a win over Estrada would significantly redefine his standing. Estrada, a former multi-division champion and proven warrior from Mexico, brings maturity via experience in many high-pressure fights. Estrada has built a record of 45-4 with 28 knockouts and wins over Chocolotito Gonzalez and Srissaket Sor Rungvisai among others.
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WBC approves very soft opponent for Thorslund's interim title bout |
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The fight card set for January 31st in Kolding, Denmark has taken an unexpected turn, with Spain’s Almudena Álvarez stepping in to face undefeated, two-division champion Dina Thorslund (pictured) for the WBC interim featherweight title, following the withdrawal of the originally scheduled opponent. Alvarez is 43 years old, just 7-3 as a pro, and is coming off a loss. Contractual disagreements arose with the initial challenger, Lila Furtado. The winner of this duel will be crowned the WBC interim champion, granting them the immediate right to seek a unification bout against the reigning WBC world champion, Tiara Brown of the United States. For Thorslund, the former undisputed world bantamweight champion, just making it back to the ring represents an achievment of personal resilience. After relinquishing her titles due to pregnancy and subsequently facing the heartbreaking loss of her baby, Thorslund has decided to channel her strength into a new category: the 126-pound (featherweight) division.
For Alvarez, this last-minute change represents a “golden ticket." She travels to Denmark with the goal of seizing the moment and delivering one of the biggest upsets in women’s boxing in recent years.
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WBC approves very soft opponent for Thorslund's interim title bout
The fight card set for January 31st in Kolding, Denmark has taken an unexpected turn, with Spain’s Almudena Álvarez stepping in to face undefeated, two-division champion Dina Thorslund (pictured) for the WBC interim featherweight title, following the withdrawal of the originally scheduled opponent. Alvarez is 43 years old, just 7-3 as a pro, and is coming off a loss. Contractual disagreements arose with the initial challenger, Lila Furtado. The winner of this duel will be crowned the WBC interim champion, granting them the immediate right to seek a unification bout against the reigning WBC world champion, Tiara Brown of the United States. For Thorslund, the former undisputed world bantamweight champion, just making it back to the ring represents an achievment of personal resilience. After relinquishing her titles due to pregnancy and subsequently facing the heartbreaking loss of her baby, Thorslund has decided to channel her strength into a new category: the 126-pound (featherweight) division.
For Alvarez, this last-minute change represents a “golden ticket." She travels to Denmark with the goal of seizing the moment and delivering one of the biggest upsets in women’s boxing in recent years.
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Muratalla retains 135-pound title in thriller vs. Cruz |
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Raymond Muratalla W12 Andy Cruz...At the Fountainbleau in Las Vegas, Raymond Muratalla kept his IBF lightweight title following a thrilling battle against two-time Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz of Cuba. The American star was an underdog beforehand, but he produced a strong performance to put pressure on Cruz throughout. At the end of twelve absorbing rounds, Muratalla prevailed via majority decision, but both boxers left with their heads held high. Muratalla came on strong in the championship rounds and that was enough to win by majority decision (114-114, 118-110, 116-112) to hold onto his belt. DAZN News had the fight scored a draw at 114-114. Muratalla (24-0, 17 KOs) was constant pressure and not letting Cruz get settled in so he could use his footwork and power jab. Being relentless paid off in the final two rounds as Cruz (22-1 including paid bouts in the World Series of Boxing) had no answer and couldn't land anything of substance to keep Muratalla off of him to suffer the first loss of his professional career.
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Muratalla retains 135-pound title in thriller vs. Cruz
Raymond Muratalla W12 Andy Cruz...At the Fountainbleau in Las Vegas, Raymond Muratalla kept his IBF lightweight title following a thrilling battle against two-time Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz of Cuba. The American star was an underdog beforehand, but he produced a strong performance to put pressure on Cruz throughout. At the end of twelve absorbing rounds, Muratalla prevailed via majority decision, but both boxers left with their heads held high. Muratalla came on strong in the championship rounds and that was enough to win by majority decision (114-114, 118-110, 116-112) to hold onto his belt. DAZN News had the fight scored a draw at 114-114. Muratalla (24-0, 17 KOs) was constant pressure and not letting Cruz get settled in so he could use his footwork and power jab. Being relentless paid off in the final two rounds as Cruz (22-1 including paid bouts in the World Series of Boxing) had no answer and couldn't land anything of substance to keep Muratalla off of him to suffer the first loss of his professional career.
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Hart denied a win as judges hand Coe a gift |
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Khaill Coe W10 Jesse Hart.... A very bad decision stained the Muratalla-Cruz undercard in Las Vegas. In what was supposed to be a light heavyweight bout, New Jersey's Khaill Coe received an undeserved win over Philadelphia veteran Jesse Hart (pictured). On Friday, Coe came in nearly eight pounds overweight, but Hart elected to continue with the fight rather than take a smaller payment for not competing.Coe fought a poor fight, landing only 54 out of 143 punches according to CompuBox. Nonetheless, the judges granted him a majority decision by scores 96-92, 95-93, 94-94. Each man was penalized one point during the ten-round bout.
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Hart denied a win as judges hand Coe a gift
Khaill Coe W10 Jesse Hart.... A very bad decision stained the Muratalla-Cruz undercard in Las Vegas. In what was supposed to be a light heavyweight bout, New Jersey's Khaill Coe received an undeserved win over Philadelphia veteran Jesse Hart (pictured). On Friday, Coe came in nearly eight pounds overweight, but Hart elected to continue with the fight rather than take a smaller payment for not competing.Coe fought a poor fight, landing only 54 out of 143 punches according to CompuBox. Nonetheless, the judges granted him a majority decision by scores 96-92, 95-93, 94-94. Each man was penalized one point during the ten-round bout.
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Ex-champ Madrimov wins but looks rusty |
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Ismail Madrimov W10 Luis David Salazar...On the same show, former world title holder Ismail Madrimov (17-3-1 including the World Series of Boxing) defeated Luis David Salazar (20-2, 7 KOs) of the Dominican Republic in junior middleweight action. Th inactive Madrimov won by unanimous decision, as all three scorecards red 99-91. The Uzbeki Madrimov got the job done but was extremely rusty after dealing with pneumonia that kept him away from the ring for eleven months. He was coming off two straight losses, one in a unification bout vs. Terence Crawford, and then to current interim title holder Vergil Ortiz. Madrimov then took a lengthy layoff until this fight.
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Ex-champ Madrimov wins but looks rusty
Ismail Madrimov W10 Luis David Salazar...On the same show, former world title holder Ismail Madrimov (17-3-1 including the World Series of Boxing) defeated Luis David Salazar (20-2, 7 KOs) of the Dominican Republic in junior middleweight action. Th inactive Madrimov won by unanimous decision, as all three scorecards red 99-91. The Uzbeki Madrimov got the job done but was extremely rusty after dealing with pneumonia that kept him away from the ring for eleven months. He was coming off two straight losses, one in a unification bout vs. Terence Crawford, and then to current interim title holder Vergil Ortiz. Madrimov then took a lengthy layoff until this fight.
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Walsh victorious in Zuffa Boxing 01 main event |
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Callum Walsh W10 Carlos Ocampo... In the main event of Zuffa Boxing's debut show, undefeated “King” Callum Walsh moved up to middleweight and claimed a unanimous decision victory over Mexico's Carlos Ocampo. Walsh’s victory improved his professional record to 16-0 with 11 KOs, while Ocampo dropped to 38-4 with 26 KOs. Walsh, from Ireland, signaled his intent with the first punch of the fight as he connected with a straight left hand, then followed up with an overhand right that also found its mark. But Ocampo stood his ground and fired back in kind as both men looked to impose their power on the other. The Cork native looked extremely comfortable sharing the ring with a former world title challenger, and had the Mexican veteran on the back foot through the majority of the fight as he consistently connected with heavy shots to the head and body, with his southpaw left hand having particular success.
There was drama in round six, when Walsh was caught off-balance and touched down, drawing an eight-count from the referee. But the Irishman continued, undeterred as he outworked and outstruck Ocampo throughout the remainder of the fight as he earned a landslide unanimous decision victory. After his victory, Walsh declared himself satisfied with his night’s work after delivering a more complete performance than his last fight against Fernando Vargas.
“I feel a lot better,” he told Zuffa Boxing analyst Max Kellerman. “I feel like I’ve improved since last fight. Cardio wise, I felt a lot better. I’m never happy with the performance unless I knock him out. But getting the ten rounds is good for me. The opponents are getting tougher and tougher. He’s been in there with the best of them. He’s only lost to the best of them. And yeah, it was a good experience. It was a good night. And all around I’m happy to get the win.”
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Walsh victorious in Zuffa Boxing 01 main event
Callum Walsh W10 Carlos Ocampo... In the main event of Zuffa Boxing's debut show, undefeated “King” Callum Walsh moved up to middleweight and claimed a unanimous decision victory over Mexico's Carlos Ocampo. Walsh’s victory improved his professional record to 16-0 with 11 KOs, while Ocampo dropped to 38-4 with 26 KOs. Walsh, from Ireland, signaled his intent with the first punch of the fight as he connected with a straight left hand, then followed up with an overhand right that also found its mark. But Ocampo stood his ground and fired back in kind as both men looked to impose their power on the other. The Cork native looked extremely comfortable sharing the ring with a former world title challenger, and had the Mexican veteran on the back foot through the majority of the fight as he consistently connected with heavy shots to the head and body, with his southpaw left hand having particular success.
There was drama in round six, when Walsh was caught off-balance and touched down, drawing an eight-count from the referee. But the Irishman continued, undeterred as he outworked and outstruck Ocampo throughout the remainder of the fight as he earned a landslide unanimous decision victory. After his victory, Walsh declared himself satisfied with his night’s work after delivering a more complete performance than his last fight against Fernando Vargas.
“I feel a lot better,” he told Zuffa Boxing analyst Max Kellerman. “I feel like I’ve improved since last fight. Cardio wise, I felt a lot better. I’m never happy with the performance unless I knock him out. But getting the ten rounds is good for me. The opponents are getting tougher and tougher. He’s been in there with the best of them. He’s only lost to the best of them. And yeah, it was a good experience. It was a good night. And all around I’m happy to get the win.”
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