Boxing

BELFAST (July 3, 2019) — Michael Conlan has a new opponent for his Belfast homecoming. Conlan, who was originally slated to face former Olympic nemesis Vladimir Nikitin, will take on the dangerous Diego Alberto “El Profeta” Ruiz in a 10-round featherweight showdown Saturday, Aug. 3 at Falls Park as part of the city’s annual Féile an Phobail summer festival.

 Errol Spence envisions himself soon unifying the welterweight division by beating Shawn Porter, Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman winner, and then Terence Crawford. Spence says he would like to be the undisputed welterweight champion by next year, so that he can then move up to 154 to become the unified champion in that weight class.

Demetrius Andrade is now being considered by Golden Boy Promotions as the next opponent for Saul Canelo Alvarez on September 14, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Andrade is one of a number of elite level fighters that is under consideration for the Mexican star to fight in his next contest on DAZN. The other fighters that are in the running are as follows: Sergey Kovalev, Gennady Golovkin and Jaime Munguia.

Former WBA lightweight champion Anthony Crolla believes that Luke Campbell will find better success against WBA/WBO 135 pound champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (13-1, 10 KOs) than he did last April in getting crushed in four rounds. This is a match-up of two Olympic gold medalists, and both the same age at 31.

Eight-division world champion and reigning WBA (Regular) Welterweight World Champion Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao may be in the thick of preparations for his upcoming title bout against WBA (Super) Welterweight World Champion Keith Thurman in Las Vegas later this month, but he wasn't too busy to link up with an old rival. 

PHILADELPHIA (July 2, 2019) — Carl “The Jackal” Frampton is on the hunt for another world title. Frampton, the former two-division world champion from Belfast, Northern Ireland, will make his first stateside appearance in more than two years in a 10-round featherweight bout against the hard-hitting Emmanuel Dominguez on Saturday, Aug. 10 at the Liacouras Center.

WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo successfully defended his title for the first time last Saturday night in beating Brandon Adams by a 12 round unanimous decision, and he’s now hoping to get  a bigger match-up against Saul Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is reporting that Sergey Kovalev vs. Anthony Yarde is set for August 24 in Russia, according to Mike Coppinger [@TheAthleticBOX]. Saul Canelo Alvarez is still in play for a fight against Kovalev in September.

Gennady Golovkin vs. Jaime Munguia is a possible fight to take place in the fall if Saul Canelo Alvarez steps up to 175 to challenge WBO champion Sergey Kovalev, according to Mike Coppinger @TheAthleticBOX .

Promoter Bob Arum says Tyson Fury will be fighting next on either September 7th or 21st in New York at Madison Square Garden, according to Mike Coppinger @theathleticBox. Arum will be meeting with MTK Global reps to talk about Fury’s opponent for September.

(July 1, 2019) — Nordine Oubaali is set to make the first defense of his WBC world bantamweight title against tough Filipino contender Arthur Villanueva Saturday at Barys Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, as part of the nation’s celebration of Capital City Day.

Oubaali-Villanueva will be the official co-feature, as a crowd of more than 10,000 fans is expected to watch unbeaten hometown hero Zhankosh Turarov fight Mauro Maximiliano Godoy in the 10-round main event for the vacant WBO Intercontinental junior welterweight title.

TEMECULA, Calif (June 28, 2019) — The young champion took the old veteran to school. Richard "RC" Commey made the first defense of his IBF world lightweight title, knocking down former world champion Ray Beltran four times en route to an eighth-round knockout in front of 2,795 fans at Pechanga Resort Casino.