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.
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.
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.
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.
(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+.
Rob “Bravo” Brant and Ryota Murata have a painful shared history. They waged a toe-to-toe battle last October in Las Vegas that saw Brant wrest the WBA middleweight title away from Murata via unanimous decision.
It’s time for the rematch.
Robert Garcia says he’s ready to take over as former middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s new trainer, and help him defeat Saul Canelo Alvarez in a third fight later this year in September. Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs) announced this week the big news that he’s cutting ties with his long-time trainer Abel Sanchez, who he’d been with for nine years since 2010.
WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade and Maciej Sulecki have agreed to terms for a fight on June 28 on DAZN, according to Mike Coppinger. The unbeaten Andrade (27-0, 17 KOs) will be defending his WBO 160 lb title against mandatory Sulecki (28-1, 11 KOs) in Andrade’s hometown at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
YOKOHAMA - Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao, who signed a “promotional contract” with Japan’s RIZIN Fighting Federation earlier this month, made an in-ring appearance during Sunday’s event at Yokohama Arena.
The 40-year-old Filipino grabbed a microphone and addressed a crowd of 12,914 before the day’s final two matches, which included a kickboxing bout between Japanese star Tenshin Nasukawa and Pacquiao’s compatriot Fritz Biagtan.
South Africa’s WBO World champion Zolani Tete (28-3, 21 KOs) is facing the WBC Diamond and WBA World champion, American-Philippine Nonito Donaire (39-5, 25 KOs), in the 118lb WBSS semi-final on April 27 at the Cajundome in Lafayette, LA, USA.
Negotiations are said to be underway between IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) and Andy Ruiz Jr. (32-1, 21 KOs) for June 1 on DAZN and Sky Sports Box Office at Madison Square Garcia in New York.
The match between Errol Spence Jr. and Manny Pacquaio is the most anticipated one. This is after Errol Spence Jr. defeated Mikey Garcia. The match between the two took place last month. Spence Jr. and Pacquaio had met inside the ring as well. This was post-Spence’s match with Garcia. According to a report by Forbes, Pacquiao even said “why not” for questions of a match between the two.
A bulked up WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) landed a textbook low blow to score a stoppage of challenger former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir “King” Khan (33-5, 20 KOs) in a highly disappointing end to a fight on ESPN pay-per-view on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
