Boxing

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 8, 2024, 11:54 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Naoya Inoue and Luis Nery have agreed to a deal for a May fight in Tokyo for Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight championship, sources told ESPN on Monday night. Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) claimed ESPN Fighter of the Year honors when he KOed Marlon Tapales

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 8, 2024, 08:05 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The Nevada State Athletic Commission said Monday that both contestants in Vergil Ortiz’s first-round TKO of Fredrick Lawson on Saturday “were cleared by medical experts to compete without restrictions.” The statement comes one day after referee Tony Weeks claimed in a Facebook post that

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 7, 2024, 10:55 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Less than 90 days ago, Francis Ngannou had never stepped through the ropes for a professional boxing match. We knew Ngannou possessed crushing power, but that was all displayed in the Octagon, where he reigned as UFC heavyweight champion. The 37-year-old was viewed as

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 6, 2024, 11:23 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Vergil Ortiz Jr. scored a first-round TKO victory Saturday in Las Vegas in a stoppage that was vehemently disputed by his opponent, Frederick Lawson. Ortiz, in his first fight in 17 months, buckled Lawson with a jab that backed him up. With Lawson lying

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 5, 2024, 06:19 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou have struck a deal for a heavyweight boxing match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, announced Friday on social media. The fight will take place on March 9, sources told ESPN. Joshua

Mike Coppinger Nick Parkinson Close Nick Parkinson •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 Jan 5, 2024, 08:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions It is hard to predict what can happen in a full year of boxing,

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 3, 2024, 07:25 PM ET Heavyweight boxer Jarrell Miller was arrested Tuesday in Hollywood, Florida, and charged with carjacking without a firearm or weapon and burglary with assault or battery, according to Broward Sheriff’s Office records. Miller was held on $30,000 bond and remained incarcerated in Fort Lauderdale as of Wednesday evening,

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 2, 2024, 06:02 PM ET Longtime boxing manager Cameron Dunkin died Tuesday in Las Vegas following a battle with cancer. He was 67. Family members of Dunkin confirmed his death on social media. Dunkin managed many of the world’s top boxers during his 30-plus years in the sport. Among them: Terence Crawford,

Jan 2, 2024, 11:55 AM ET Open Extended Reactions LONDON, Jan 2 — Poland’s former WBO cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Glowacki has been banned from all sports for four years for the use of an anabolic steroid, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) said on Tuesday. The 37-year-old, who has won 32 of his 36 professional fights, failed a

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 2, 2024, 07:54 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Boxing’s pound-for-pound best delivered some worthy performances in 2023. Artur Beterbiev kicked off the campaign by keeping his perfect KO ratio intact with a thrilling TKO defeat of Anthony Yarde to retain three light heavyweight titles. Three months later, a well-placed body shot by

Mike Coppinger, ESPNDec 29, 2023, 02:14 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The year 2023 breathed new life into boxing, a campaign in which the sport was able to deliver several super fights that had long eluded fight fans. From Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia to Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence Jr., boxing provided the sort

Dec 28, 2023, 08:08 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Naoya Inoue made another statement with a hard-fought, but dominant victory over Marlon Tapales to become only the second men’s fighter to win an undisputed championship in a second division in the four-belt era (Terence Crawford beat Errol Spence Jr.to become the first to do so

Mike Coppinger, ESPNDec 26, 2023, 07:21 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Japanese star Naoya Inoue scored a 10th-round KO of Marlon Taples on Tuesday in Tokyo to capture the undisputed junior featherweight championship. “The Monster” landed two right hands in succession that were partially blocked, but following a systematic breakdown of Tapales, the punches were

Mike Coppinger, ESPNDec 26, 2023, 08:48 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Fight by fight, it has become increasingly difficult to sum up Naoya Inoue‘s greatness. Largely, that’s because “The Monster” won’t stop adding dimensions to his game or chapters to his storied history in a boxing ring. When fans in the U.S. wake up before

Nick ParkinsonDec 23, 2023, 07:07 PM ET Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Open Extended Reactions Anthony Joshua’s slow reboot of his career is complete after a sharp display forced Otto Wallin’s corner to stop

Mike Coppinger, ESPNDec 23, 2023, 04:34 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Dmitry Bivol retained his WBA light heavyweight title with a shutout decision victory over Lyndon Arthur on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Bivol floored Arthur with a body-shot barrage in the closing moments of the penultimate round and was named the 120-107 winner on

Mike Coppinger, ESPNDec 23, 2023, 06:00 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Joseph Parker dominated Deontay Wilder on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, en route to the major upset victory in a battle of former heavyweight champions. New Zealand’s Parker prevailed via scores of 118-111, 118-110 and 120-108. Wilder entered the bout a -700 favorite, per

Mike Coppinger Nick Parkinson Close Nick Parkinson •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 Dec 23, 2023, 07:56 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Entering the ‘Day of Reckoning’ boxing event on Saturday, the expectation was that both