WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Ryota Murata will be defending his title against mandatory challenger Rob Brant on October 20 at Park Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada. Murata-Brant is expected to be streamed on ESPN+. The undercard hasn’t been put together as of yet.

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo

MADE a solid showing in the quarterfinals of the men’s light flyweight competition at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia on Wednesday, Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam looks to sustain his fine form as he tries to add to the medal haul of the Philippines in the semifinals today at the Jakarta Expo Boxing Hall.

Daniel Dubois (8-0, 8 KOs) has flown over to Moscow, Russia to assist Alexander Povetkin prepare for his title fight against IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on September 22 at Wembley Stadium in London, UK. The 6’5” Dubois will work as a sparring partner for the 38-year-old Povetkin to get him ready for what he’ll be dealing with when he gets inside the ring with the 6’6” Joshua next month.

Bangkok, Thailand — Thai boxer Wanheng Menayothin grabbed his 51st straight victory Wednesday in a long but lop-sided bout against a fighter from the Philippines, defending his WBC title and surpassing the undefeated record of boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The 105-pound minimumweight champion, nicknamed the “dwarf giant” for his compact build and heavy hitting style, won on points after a bruising 12 rounds against Pedro Taduran in the Thai city of Nakhon Sawan.

Hughie Fury will be trying to place himself in line for a world title shot against Anthony Joshua on October 27 when he takes on Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs) in an official International Boxing Federation heavyweight title eliminator in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Fury-Pulev winner will be Joshua’s IBF mandatory challenger.

The fight will be aired on Channel 5 in the UK. This will allow Hughie to be seen by a lot of boxing fans. It’s now up to him to make sure he doesn’t blow it and look bad like he did in losing to Joseph Parker in 2017.

GLENDALE, Ariz (Aug. 25, 2018) — Jose "Sniper" Pedraza is now a two-weight world champion. Pedraza scored an 11th round knockdown and won a unanimous decision to dethrone WBO lightweight world champion Ray Beltran on Saturday evening at the GIla River Arena.

Scores were 117-110, 117-110, and 115-112 for Pedraza, who was previously the IBF 130-pound champion of the world.

With the victory, Pedraza (25-1, 12 KOs) is expected to fight WBA lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko on Dec. 1 to unify two of the division's titles. Pedraza returned from a 14-month layoff in March and won two bouts to earn the shot at Beltran.

OAKLAND, Calif. (Aug. 27, 2018) — IBF super middleweight champion José Uzcátegui, the power-punching boogeyman of the 168-pounders, will face Ezequiel Maderna in the 10-round, non-title main event on Friday, Sept. 28 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

And, in the co-feature, Jerwin Ancajas, the world’s longest-reigning 115-pound world champion, is ready to add another defense to his résumé. The southpaw Filipino sensation will make the sixth defense of his IBF junior bantamweight world title against the hard-charging Alejandro Santiago.

David Lemieux is projecting a victory for Gennady Golovkin in his rematch with Saul Canelo Alvarez in less than three week from now on September 15. Lemieux (39-4, 33 KOs) sees the Canelo-Golovkin 2 fight being a close one, but he expects Golovkin (38-0-1, 33 KOs) take the victory in their fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Last Friday, the Matchroom Boxing USA/DAZN revealed their Billy Joe Saunders vs. Demetrius Andrade card for October 20 at TD Garden in Boston, Mass. This is the card that Machroom promoter Eddie Hearn hopes to American fans to want to subscribe to DAZN by paying $10 per month, but unfortunately the card is not a good one once you look beyond the main event fight between Saunders (26-0, 12 KOs) and former junior middleweight champion Andrade (25-0, 16 KOs).

Jakarta— Alliance of Boxing Associations of the Philippines Executive Director Ed Picson will bat for the banning of the three judges who handed a dubious decision against Filipina Nesthy Petecio in the 2018 Asian Games Friday night from officiating in fights by Filipino boxers here.

LIVE on ESPN, TOMORROW at 10:30 p.m. ET

Undercard Streaming on ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET

The World Boxing Council will present a special belt to the winner of next month’s rematch between Saul Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin on September 15. Canelo (49-1-2, 34 KOs) vs. Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) will be awarded the Adolfo Lopez Mates belt.

The winner of the fight can hold it over their heads. It’s a beautiful belt, but it’s unknown whether there’s a sanctioning fee attached to the belt. Hopefully this isn’t another draw like the first fight. It’s unclear who gets the WBC’s special Adolfo Lopez Mates belt if it’s another tie between Canelo and Golovkin. It’s a different set of judges this time, so that at least minimizes the chances of another draw.