Boxing

5:44 PM ET Steve KimESPN Christopher Diaz def. Jason Sanchez by unanimous decisionFight recap coming up … Contreras dominates Vargas for decision win Miguel Contreras, left, scored a unanimous decision victory over Rolando Vargas in a hard-fought junior welterweight bout. Mikey Williams/Top Rank Punch Stats Punches Vargas Contreras Total landed 102 111 Total thrown 318 328

11:52 PM ET Steve KimESPN Joshua Franco captured the WBA junior bantamweight title by defeating previously undefeated Australian champion Andrew Moloney in a hard-fought unanimous decision Tuesday night at the fan-free MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Punch Stats Punches Moloney Franco Total landed 191 231 Total thrown 663 789 Percent 29% 29% Jabs

8:20 AM ET Steve KimESPN We have another week with three boxing events on ESPN on the way, but the next few days will feel a little bit different. For the first time since the return of the sport, there will be a title defense. Beyond that, one of the biggest standouts in boxing the

2:45 PM ET Steve KimESPN Javier Martinez, USA Boxing’s top-rated boxer at 165 pounds, has signed a multiyear contract with Top Rank. The Milwaukee native will make his professional debut on June 30 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Conference Center. Martinez, 24, won the 2020 U.S. Olympic trials, but he was only selected

8:25 AM ET Steve KimESPN The International Boxing Hall of Fame’s accomplished class of inductees for 2020 includes Bernard Hopkins, “Sugar” Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and promoter Dan Goossen, who died in 2014, among others. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremonies have been postponed and will be combined with the 2021 Hall

1:50 AM ET Steve KimESPN After a relatively slow start, WBO junior featherweight titleholder Emanuel Navarrete overwhelmed Uriel Lopez to score a sixth-round TKO victory in a non-title fight Saturday night at the TV Azteca studios in Mexico City. Navarrete (32-1, 28 KOs) slowly built momentum and eventually started to overpower Lopez (13-13-1, 6 KOs)

5:44 PM ET Steve KimESPN Featherweight Edwin Palomares scored a fifth-round stoppage of Carlos Ornelas with an accumulation of punches in what has to be considered an upset Saturday night on the Emanuel Navarrete-Uriel Lopez undercard in Mexico City. A body punch in Round 5 forced Ornelas to take a knee. Soon thereafter, his corner

2:10 AM ET Steve Kim Ben Baby Close ESPN Staff Writer ESPN Staff Writer Previously a college football writer for The Dallas Morning News University of North Texas graduate The four-month layoff didn’t seem to affect the always active Emanuel Navarrete. The junior featherweight world titlist, who had fought five time between December 2018 and

5:44 PM ET Steve KimESPN Junior featherweight world titlist Emanuel Navarrete (31-1, 27 KOs) takes on Uriel Lopez (13-13-1, 6 KOs) in a non-title fight in the main event of a Saturday card in Mexico City (ESPN and ESPN Deportes, 11 p.m. ET.) But before that, a few good prospects will showcase their skills on

2:10 PM ET Steve KimESPN Thompson Boxing announced Friday that it will stage a pay-per-view card July 26 featuring lightweight hopeful Michael Dutchover facing Jorge Marron Jr. in an eight-round bout. Under the new California State Athletic Commission guidelines, the show at the Omega Products Event Center in Corona, California, will take place without a

11:22 PM ET Steve KimESPN Blue-chip lightweight prospect Gabriel Flores Jr. continued his development with a one-sided unanimous decision victory over Josec Ruiz on Thursday at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Flores (18-0, 6 KOs) started quickly, scoring a second-round knockdown of Ruiz (21-3-3, 14 KOs), and then outboxed Ruiz the rest

8:00 AM ET A big celebration didn’t await Emanuel Navarrete when his life changed forever. The day after Navarrete won the WBO 122-pound title in an upset victory over Isaac Dogboe in December 2018, he got on a plane and went back to San Juan Zitlaltepec — Navarrete’s hometown, located roughly 50 miles north of

11:54 PM ET Steve Kim Ben Baby Close ESPN Staff Writer ESPN Staff Writer Previously a college football writer for The Dallas Morning News University of North Texas graduate While Thursday night’s Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card lost its main event on the day the bout was scheduled to take place, the show must

9:44 AM ET Steve KimESPN Clay Collard handed David Kaminsky his first professional loss with a split decision by the scores of 58-56, 56-58 and 58-56, in a fast-paced super middleweight contest on the Gabriel Flores Jr.- Josec Ruiz undercard at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. But while it looked close on

12:45 PM ET Steve KimESPN Thursday night’s Top Rank on ESPN main event between junior welterweights Jose Pedraza, and Mikkel LesPierre has been canceled after LesPierre’s manager, Josie Taveras, tested positive for the coronavirus. “The bottom line is the manager tested positive for COVID after the weigh-in yesterday,” Brad Jacobs, chief operating officer for Top

5:12 PM ET Steve KimESPN Former WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez will face veteran Jayson Velez on July 21 at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. The bout will take place at 130 pounds, according to Frank Espinoza, Valdez’s manager. “The fight is done, we’re excited about it, Oscar is very happy to

11:18 AM ET Associated Press LONDON — The controversial boxing promoter helping to arrange the all-British heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua has been dropped as an adviser to a Bahraini sports organization that is looking to bring high-profile bouts to the region. Daniel Kinahan was recently hired as special adviser to KHK

7:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This story contains graphic descriptions of domestic violence. HIS VOICE IS calm. “I need to show you something,” he says. It’s 5:31 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010, at 1203 Foxtree Trail, a stucco ranch in the sleepy suburban neighborhood of Apopka, Florida, when James Martin takes a 9-inch Buck