Jai Opetaia will endure a lengthy layoff ahead of his first title defense. The unbeaten lineal and IBF cruiserweight champion was granted a 60-day medical extension by the sanctioning body, which could impact his eventual fight with number-one contender Mateusz Masternak. Opetaia continues to recover from recent shoulder surgery, which prompted the request. “On February 14, 2023, IBF Cruiserweight Champion ...
Aaron Bowen got his professional career off to a scintillating start. The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, who competed in Birmingham last year, made his professional debut on Saturday. Bowen, 24, took on Mathieu Gomes over six scheduled rounds, as part of the supporting cast to Leigh Wood’s second defence of the WBA featherweight title against Mexican danger man Mauricio Lara. ...
Mauricio Lara feels like he’s heard this song before. The streaking contender from Mexico City is unconvinced that Leigh Wood will live up to his word of going to war in their forthcoming title fight this weekend. Wood puts his WBA featherweight title at risk versus the visiting Lara, who is convinced that the defending champion has bitten off more ...
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Having fought just three times since 2019, pending unrestricted free agent Azat Hovhannisyan is looking to kick his career into overdrive. Hovhannisyan (21-3, 17 KOs) will get the major opportunity he’s long been clamoring for this Saturday when he takes on former two-division world champion Luis “Pantera” Nery (33-1, 25 KOs) at the Fox Theater Pomona ...
That’s it for the 2022 IMMAF World Championships. Fifteen bouts closed out the competition as the senior finals took place in the Stark Arena, Belgrade, Serbia. History was made as two of the greatest amateur athletes to grace the IMMAF platform, Sabrina De Sousa [Bahrain] and Ramazan Gitinov [Bahrain], said goodbye after becoming three-time world champions. De Sousa is the ...
Mauricio “Bronco” Lara is chomping at the bit to become a world champion, and the rough and rugged Mexican contender will get his opportunity Feb. 18 when he takes on Leigh Wood for the WBA featherweight title in Nottingham, United Kingdom. Lara (25-2-1, 18 KOs) will be returning to British soil, the site where he enjoyed the biggest breakout of ...
Sheffield Super-Lightweight star Dalton Smith can take another step closer to winning the prestigious British Title outright when he makes the second defense of his belt against Billy Allington at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham this Saturday February 18, live worldwide on DAZN (excluding Australia and New Zealand). One of the hottest young properties in world boxing, ‘Thunder’ (13-0, 10 KOs) ...
Mauricio Lara has warned Leigh Wood that if he switches off during their WBA Featherweight World Title showdown this Saturday February 18 at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, shown live worldwide on DAZN (excluding Australia and New Zealand), then “the fight will be over quickly”. Mexico’s Lara (25-2-1, 18 KOs) has waited patiently for his first World Title shot following his ...
Good things come to those who wait. Mauricio Lara has waited since 2021 for a title shot he probably should have had immediately after defeating undefeated Josh Warrington. If boxing were run like any other sport, he might have. It isn’t and Lara watched while Warrington won and lost a title. Leigh Wood enters Saturday (DAZN, 2 PM EST) riding ...
Ardreal Holmes eluded Ismael Villarreal power for 10 rounds Friday night and outboxed him to remain undefeated. Holmes, a 6-foot-2 southpaw, controlled distance, tied up the hard-hitting Villarreal when necessary, worked effectively off his jab and out-pointed him on two scorecards. The poised Holmes won on the scorecards of judges Nick Berens (96-94) and David Sutherland (97-93) to win a ...