Boxing

Former WBC super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell (32-1-1, 24 KOs) and his opponent Avni Yildirim (21-1 12 KOs) both weighed in successfully on Friday for their fight for the vacant WBC 168 lb title on Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on Premier Boxing Champions on FS1 at the Minneapolis Armory, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A huge fight fight card headlined by WBC super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs. Juan Francisco Estrada is said to be a done deal for April 26 on DAZN in Los Angles, California, according to RingTV. The promoters of the event still need to make their announcement before the card is official.

Brandon Rios (35-4, 26 KOs) will be stepping inside the lion’s den this Saturday night to face Humberto Soto (68-9-2, 37 KOs) on his home turf LIVE on DAZN at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Auditorio Municipal, in Tijuana, Mexico. This will be a bout that takes place at junior middleweight.

After more than six years in the making, this Saturday night, James DeGale (25-2-1) and Chris Eubank Jr. (27-2) will finally share a ring. As I’m sat in the shadows of the O2 Arena following today’s pre-fight press conference, where they will do battle in two days’ time, I thought it as good a time as any to pick out ten talking points and questions that will be answered late into Saturday night when two of Britain’s best super-middleweights collide on ITV Box Office.

Mikey Garcia’s bulk training at the SNAC facility still hasn’t helped him get enough size for him to even out the huge height and reach advantage that his opponent IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. will be enjoying against him when they face each other in 3 1/2 weeks on March 16 on FOX PPV at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has given up all hope of landing a unification fight against three-belt unified champion Anthony Joshua in 2019. Wilder says he’s already been told that there’s no chance of getting a fight Joshua this year, and that the match won’t take place, if alt all until 2020. Wilder doesn’t understand why Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) won’t face him. He thinks the reason he’s being put on the back-burner by Matchroom Boxing is because he’s a “dangerous” opponent for Joshua.

Tyson Fury has agreed a lucrative multi-fight deal to be co-promoted by Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing.

The former IBF, WBA, IBO and WBO champion and his promoter Frank Warren announced the deal, said to be worth £80 million, on Monday.

His fights will now be shown on ESPN in the United States, while BT Sport will continue to broadcast his bouts in the United Kingdom.

(Feb. 18, 2019) — Tyson Fury, one of the world’s most dynamic and popular heavyweight boxers, and Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren are joining forces with Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum’s Top Rank. The agreement will mean that Fury will be a headline part of the boxing lineup under the historic, long-term Top Rank on ESPN relationship.

Fury, the undefeated lineal heavyweight champion, will have his bouts co-promoted by Top Rank and Queensberry Promotions. The deal calls for a minimum of two bouts per year in the United States.

Mikey Garcia was highly critical of Terence Crawford this weekend in slamming him over his career resume while driving to build up his own credibility in explaining his rationale for wanting to challenge IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. for his title on March 16.

Joshua Greer Jr. scores body shot KO
Mikaela Mayer retains NABF super featherweight belt

WBA/WBO lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KOs) thinks unbeaten contender Teofimo Lopez (12-0, 10 KOs) is using his name to get attention from the media and the boxing fans.

Lopez says he would be more than glad to face the 21-year-old Teofimo inside the ring, but he needs to least become a mandatory challenger before he does so, Loma said in an interview at boxingtalk.com.

Rob Brant (24-1, 16 KOs) will be making his first defense of his WBA World middleweight tonight against undefeated and largely unknown fringe contender Khasan Baysangurov (17-0, 7 KOs) in the main event in a triple header at the Grand Casino, in Hinckley, Minnesota. Brant-Baysangurov is the main event on ESPN/ESPN Deportes. The card starts at 9:00 PT. The undercard fights begin at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.