Eddie Hearn says he’s willing to let Luis ‘King Kong” Ortiz face IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua next if he still fancies taking the fight. Hearn offered Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs) $7 million to step in as the replacement for Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller for June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York, but he chose not to take the fight.
TUCSON, Ariz. (May 8, 2019) – Two world title rematches and four blood-and-guts warriors are coming to Tucson Arena Saturday evening for "Twice as Nice," one of the year's most highly anticipated cards (ESPN and ESPN Deportes, 10 p.m ET/7 p.m. PT).
In the main event, WBC super featherweight world champion Miguel “El Alacran” Berchelt (35-1, 31 KOs) and Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas (25-1-2, 18 KOs) will look to repeat the thrills of their January 2017 match, won by Berchelt via 11th-round knockout.
WBA/WBC middleweight champion Saul Canelo Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) beat IBF champion Daniel Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) by a convincing 12 round unanimous decision win to capture his IBF 160-pound title on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya says he’s interested in matching Saul Canelo Alvarez against Errol Spence Jr. if he’s willing to move up to middleweight to take the fight. De La Hoya told ESPN he wants to “start the ball rolling” with the Canelo vs. Spence negotiations for a September fight.
IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (13-0, 13 KOs) weighed in at 174.4 pounds on Friday for his voluntary title defense against #13 IBF Radivoje Kalajdzic (24-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday night LIVE on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at Stockton Arena, in Stockton, California. The televised fight card will start this Saturday, May 4 at 10:00 p.m ET/7:00 p.m. PT. The undercard will be streaming on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m PT.
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Claressa Shields saw a lot improvement in Saul Canelo Alvarez with his performance last Saturday against Daniel Jacobs in their unification fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two-Olympian Shields says WBA/WBC middleweight champion Canelo (52-1-2, 35 KOs) fixed the mistakes that he made in his second fight against Gennady Golovkin, and looked like a improved fighter in beating IBF middleweight champion Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112.
A fight between IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr. is expected to be announced shortly for June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Ruiz Jr. (32-2, 21 KOs) has been picked out by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn to step in and replace Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller after he tested positive for banned drugs on several tests by VADA.
ANCAJAS KNOCKS OUT FUNAI
The world’s longest-reigning 115-pound world champion, Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas, will extend his reign for the foreseeable future. Ancajas (31-1-2, 21 KOs) defended his IBF junior bantamweight world title for the seventh time with a seventh-round TKO over No. 1 contender Ryuichi Funai.
(April 29, 2019)— Top Rank is proud to announce the signing of former unified bantamweight world champion Ryan Burnett to a multi-fight promotional pact in what is the latest collaboration between Top Rank and Burnett’s management group, MTK Global.
Burnett (19-1, 9 KOs) will make his ring return May 17 against Jelbirt Gomera in a 12-rounder for the vacant WBC International super bantamweight title in his hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Burnett vs. Gomera will headline a card that will stream live and exclusively in the United States on ESPN+.
