4:36 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN For the third time in the last year, Joe Smith Jr., has had a fight impacted by COVID. Smith was set to defend his light heavyweight title against Callum Johnson on Jan. 15 in Verona, New York, but that fight won’t proceed after Johnson tested positive for COVID, multiple sources
Boxing
12:31 PM ET Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, the two baddest men in combat sports, have plenty of options for big fights in 2022 — but that’s not stopping them from eyeing each other. In a social media post on Thursday, Fury, the WBC’s heavyweight champion in boxing, expressed interest in fighting Ngannou, the UFC’s
6:34 PM ET Another undisputed title fight is coming to women’s boxing. Matchroom Boxing announced on Wednesday it has signed both WBC and WBO super middleweight champion Franchòn Crews-Dezurn and IBF and WBA champion Elin Cederroos to contracts and will have them fight for the undisputed title this spring. “I’ve been ready for this fight
7:53 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN We kick off 2022 waiting and wishing for the marquee fights — the ones that can make boxing the focal point of the sports world, if only for a day, and the kind of fights that were in short supply in 2021. The anticipated undisputed heavyweight championship bout between Tyson
10:26 PM ET The middleweight fight between Chris Eubank Jr. and Liam Williams as well as the latest middleweight title defense for Claressa Shields are on the move again. Shields tweeted Monday her fight against Ema Kozin will now take place on Feb. 5, a week after when it was supposed to occur on Jan.
6:40 PM ET Associated Press RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Bob Halloran, a former sportscaster for CBS Sports who later organized major boxing events as an executive in Las Vegas, has died. He was 87. Halloran died of natural causes Sunday at his home in the desert city of Rancho Mirage located 120 miles east of
9:00 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show 2021 was another momentous year for British boxing — but what does 2022 hold? After Tyson Fury defended his WBC heavyweight title against Deontay
12:32 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Luis Ortiz survived two knockdowns to score a sixth-round stoppage of Charles Martin in a heavyweight fight Saturday night at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs) badly buckled Martin with an overhand left that left him dazed in the corner, and then Ortiz unloaded with a
8:30 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN After 2020 significantly cut down the volume of fights and memorable moments fans are accustomed to in boxing, 2021 delivered in a major way. Looking back at the last 12 months, the year could best be described as “the year of the upset,” with several key title fights that going
7:14 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Amanda Serrano steps off the elevator at the JW Marriott hotel in Tampa. In five hours, she’ll be next door in Amalie Arena riding another elevator up to a platform, and then she’ll begin her ring walk in front of a sold-out crowd for her 44th professional fight. But
2:30 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN In boxing, 2021 was a year that produced unexpected breakthrough performances from fighters such as Oleksandr Usyk and George Kambosos Jr. But those victories came at the cost of established stars who were seemingly poised to lock down perennial spots among boxing’s pound-for-pound best. Usyk’s upset victory to capture the
7:17 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The boxing industry came to a screeching halt in 2020. Without the possibility of capacity crowds, the biggest fights were tossed to the side, along with the millions in gate revenue that would have accompanied them. But beginning in May with Canelo Alvarez’s victory over Billy Joe Saunders in Arlington,
7:48 AM ET Katie Taylor, Claressa Shields and Amanda Serrano continue to lead the way in the ESPN women’s pound-for-pound rankings. But now we have a new order. Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KOs), dominated a game Miriam Gutierrez on Dec. 18 to set up a potential megafight against undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor next year, in
4:35 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Michael McKinson have agreed to a fight that will headline a DAZN event in early 2022, sources told ESPN on Monday. Ortiz, ESPN’s No. 4 welterweight, is one of boxing’s fastest-rising stars. In his toughest test yet, Ortiz encountered some early rocky moments before scoring an
8:55 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Daniel Jacobs and John Ryder have struck a deal for a super middleweight fight that will headline a DAZN event Feb. 12 in London, sources told ESPN Monday night, confirming an earlier report. Jacobs, who will be 35 on fight night, will be competing at 168 pounds for the third
Dec 20, 2021 Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Trying to separate the outstanding successes of Tyson Fury and Josh Taylor is desperately hard — and inevitably invites debate — but ESPN’s British
1:30 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Yordenis Ugas will receive his shot at Errol Spence Jr. after all. Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) protested when the WBA mandated that he next defend his welterweight title against Eimantas Stanionis, but the latter has now agreed to step aside, WBA president Gilberto Mendoza told ESPN on Sunday, paving the
12:54 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Jake Paul’s ascent in the world of boxing isn’t stopping any time soon. Actually, it might just be getting started. Paul, the YouTube star-turned-prizefighter, knocked out former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at 2:12 of the sixth round in a rematch Saturday night at Amalie Arena. In what was