9:04 AM ET Steve KimESPN As the boxing industry waits for fights to come back, key figures in the industry are exploring all of the options at their disposal. The prevailing thought is that, at least at the beginning, the fights that could happen would take place in a studio or other controlled environment with
Boxing
12:10 PM ET Steve KimESPN Longtime boxing referee Eddie Cotton died Friday morning after being hospitalized due to the coronavirus, the International Boxing Federation announced. He was 72. According to his wife, Ruby, Cotton was hospitalized two weeks ago with pneumonia. He was then diagnosed with COVID-19 at the hospital. The resident of Paterson, New
2:52 PM ET Associated Press TOLEDO, Ohio — Carmen Williamson, who in the 1940s and ’50s was a top U.S. amateur boxer and then in 1984 became the first black boxing referee and judge at the Olympic Games, has died. He was 94. Williamson died of COVID-19 complications April 8 at a hospital in Toledo,
8:57 AM ET Steve Kim 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 Terence Crawford is one of the very best boxers in the sport, a mesmerizing blend of technique, skill, athleticism and versatility. Simply
7:58 PM ET Steve KimESPN With the boxing world at a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, CEO Bob Arum and Top Rank have turned their attention to staging smaller cards that would not involve a live audience. At this point, the question is where and how. “What we’re doing is looking at facilities, including
5:53 PM ET Former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz confirmed his interest in working under 2019 Trainer of the Year Eddy Reynoso, whose fighters include four-division title holder Canelo Alvarez, as he looks to revitalize his career. Ruiz, who pulled off a surprising knockout of Anthony Joshua in June only to lose the WBA, IBF and
2:43 PM ET Steve KimESPN Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder said he had surgery on his left bicep following his seventh round loss to Tyson Fury on Feb. 22. “Recovery is going well,” the 34-year-old Wilder told the PBC podcast. “I’m in therapy. I ended up injuring it in my last fight, somewhere up
Apr 15, 2020 Steve KimESPN The World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight finals between Yuniel Dorticos and Mairis Briedis, which was set for May 16 in Riga, Latvia, has been canceled. The bout had been originally scheduled for March 21, but it was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The organization released this statement: “WBSS is
9:06 AM ET There are no live boxing events for the foreseeable future because of the coronavirus pandemic, but boxing fans will have a chance to revisit some of the best fights in history on Saturday, starting at noon ET on ESPN. And when we say the best fights in history, we mean the best
12:08 AM ET Salvador Rodríguez Steve Kim The World Boxing Organization is ceasing all activity until at least June 15 and the annual conference scheduled for October is up in the air because of the COVID-19 pandemic, WBO president Francisco Valcarcel told ESPN. All fights, transactions, release of rankings and other administrative actions will be
3:29 PM ET Steve KimESPN Promoter Bob Arum says he is looking into the possibility of scheduling boxing events in Florida this summer, using the WWE’s facilities, with Gov. Ron DeSantis having deemed WWE an “essential business” in the state. DeSantis’ decision, outlined in a memo Thursday from the governor’s office, freed up the possibility
8:59 AM ET Steve KimESPN As boxers worldwide are sidelined while the sports world (and almost everything else) is shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, promotional companies are doing their best to keep fighters in front of the public eye. Eddie Hearn, the head of Matchroom Sports, has been conducting a regular series of
8:54 AM ET Terence Crawford unleashes a smile as he hears another one of Errol Spence Jr.’s recent proclamations to “wash” him if the two best welterweights in the world finally face off in the ring. Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), the WBO world titleholder, isn’t much of a talker. In a boxing world of brash
8:05 AM ET Mark KriegelESPN It was the early ’80s, at the Golden Gloves Gym on Gragson Avenue in Las Vegas. Freddie Roach was a young pro in his early twenties, but the kid who caught his eye couldn’t have been more than five or six. That kid was working the mitts with his uncle
6:11 PM ET Steve KimESPN Keith Thurman has made it clear whom he wants to line up against when the boxinschedule resumes — the man who handed him his first professional loss last summer. “Every day no one is allowed to do anything, it makes me feel like I’m one day closer to my rematch
7:32 AM ET Floyd Mayweather Jr. has said he will be “one of the best trainers in the world” and follow in the footsteps of his late uncle. Roger Mayweather, who trained Floyd Jr. for much of his career, had been ill for some time before he died in March following complications relating to his
1:28 PM ET If Canelo Alvarez meets Gennadiy Golovkin for the third time in September, the middleweight champion’s trainer believes his superstar boxer will win by knockout and settle once and for all the debate over who is better. “Without a doubt. If this fight happens, Canelo-Golovkin III, no doubt we’ll knock him out,” Eddy
8:59 AM ET Who’s the best fighter in the smaller divisions? You can make a case for Mexico’s Julio Cesar Martinez or South Africa’s Moruti Mthalane at flyweight, or Kenshiro Teraji in the junior flyweight division and the 54-0 strawweight machine Wanheng Menayothin. With no live boxing for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus