SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 11, 2018) – Undefeated female super flyweight Casey “Lady Hawaiian Punch” Morton (7-0-3 1KO), will be fighting for her second title as she faces Jutamas Jitpong (4-2 2KOs) for the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Female Super Flyweight Title. The 10-round bout will take place this Saturday, December 8th, at the Yubei Sport Center in Yubei, China.
“I am excited to fight for my second WBO Asia Pacific Female title!” said Casey Morton. “I won the WBO Asia Pacific flyweight title earlier this year, so to get another title before the year over is a dream come true. I want to fight the best, I don’t want easy fights and I want to prove that I am a true champion.”
“Casey Morton is an amazing boxer who packs a featherweight punch in a flyweight frame,” said manager Greg Hannley of Prince Ranch Boxing. “I don’t see many flyweights surviving all ten-rounds with her after she moved up in weight to super flyweight. She is a star and we are excited to work with her.”
“I am super grateful for all of my opportunities but want to give all glory to God, as well as my team, including my manager Greg Hannley and everyone at SNAC System. I’m grateful to Victor Conte for the high-level training he provides and I will show my ability come fight night.”
Carolina,Puerto Rico – The IBF world bantamweight champion, Emmanuel “Manny”Rodríguez (19-0, 12 KOs) and his team left for Havana, Cuba to continue training for his unification fight against WBA world champion Naoya Inoue (17-0, 15 KOs). This is the semifinal round of the acclaimed World Boxing Super Series.
The
date and venue of the event will be announced soon.
“I will be quartered in Cuba for 77 days. It will not be easy to be away from myfamily for so long, but the sacrifice will be worth it”, said Rodríguez.
“We
trust the plan that we have with my new coach William Cruz, and on the track
with veteran José Bonet. The results will show in the fight. The chemistry that
we developed in these past weeks of light training has been very good. This
will be the first time that I’m not the favorite in a fight, and the motivation
is incredible. It’s very huge. I like challenges. Our goal and focus is to take
the victory and that Puerto Rico continues to shine in boxing”, said an
emotional Rodríguez, from the Luis Muñoz Marín Airport in the city of Carolina,
Puerto Rico.
Rodríguez’s promoter, Juan Orengo of Fresh Productions Boxing, explained that “this camp will not have room for distractions. It will have a lot of boxing and teamwork. Manny will be in top condition. Also, prospect Jonathan ‘Bum Bum’ López is joining us in Cuba. He is another fighter from our squad, and will fight where the Manny Rodríguez fight takes place. We are very enthusiastic about everything that is happening. Manny was always looking to fight Inoue, and it’s finally happening.”
ITV INKS BLOCKBUSTER 3-YEAR DEAL WITH HAYMON SPORTS & PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS (PBC)
NEW DEAL WILL BRING UK FIGHT FANS THE BEST BOXING IN THE WORLD
LONDON (December 11, 2018) – ITV is delighted to announce today a ground-breaking new deal with Haymon Sports and Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) to bring exclusive coverage of exciting PBC world-class boxing events to ITV viewers and fight fans in the UK. The unique collaboration is the first time that Haymon Sports and PBC has partnered with a UK broadcaster to stage boxing events regularly in the UK. The exclusive three-year deal will guarantee a minimum of 15 televised events each year, drawing from PBC’s unrivalled group of over 160 of the best boxers in the world, which includes more than 60 current and former world champions in matches staged both in the UK and the US. PBC, the sports’ pre-eminent boxing brand, is broadcast over cable and network television in the United States.
“This unprecedented deal between PBC and ITV is great news for boxing fans in the UK. We look forward to bringing viewers big events and superb action from some of the world’s best fighters in the coming years,” said Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport.
The world-class action from events for the next three years will include free-to-air broadcasts on ITV’s channels, including ITV main channel and ITV4 and ITV Hub, and will also include pay per views on ITV’s PPV channel, ITV Box Office. “Bringing big events to our platforms under this deal allows ITV to build on its aim of developing our direct relationship with viewers as part of our More Than TV strategy,”said Julian Ashworth, Director ITV Strategy and Direct to Consumer.
“We’re thrilled about this new exclusive three-year deal with ITV, UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster, and the opportunity to bring the best boxers in the world to the UK,” said Tim Smith, Vice President of Communications for Haymon Boxing. “The unique collaboration means ITV’s viewers are in for a special treat with PBC’s world class boxing events.”
Further announcements on the first PBC shows that will be available to viewers on the ITV platforms will follow in the days to come. This new deal for boxing adds to ITV Sport’s portfolio of first class events, which includes exclusive free to air coverage of the England football team’s qualifiers for both the European Championship and World Cup, the 6 Nations and exclusive coverage of the Rugby World Cup, UK horse racing, the Tour de France and the French Open.
“I’m going there to win, I see myself knocking him out!”
LAS VEGAS (December 10, 2018) – Upset-minded heavyweight prospect Alexander “The Great” Flores departed a week ago on a 13-hour flight from California to New Zealand to challenge former world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker this Saturday (Dec.15) in Christchurch, New Zealand.
“Beating Parker will get me a step closer to my goal to be the
first Mexican-American to become world heavyweight champion,” Flores
said. “I can’t picture myself losing, not the way I feel. I’ve had a
long, hard training camp for this fight. It’s really been a couple years,
because some fights fell through.”
A former World Boxing Council (WBC) Youth World Heavyweight
Champion, the 28-year-old Flores (17-1-1, 15 KOs) has a new lease on his pro
boxing career, now promoted by Roy Jones, Jr. (RJJ) Boxing.
“Alex has worked hard during the past two months,” added Keith Veltre, CEO/co-founder of
Roy Jones, Jr. Boxing. “I truly believe Joseph Parker has no clue what he is in
for with him. Like I said before, Alex is headed to New Zealand for the W,
and he will leave it all in the ring. It has been a huge mistake on
Parker’s part to overlook Alex.”
On a mission to become the first Mexican-American heavyweight
champion of the world, Flores has already had a significant first leading up to
this fight versus Parker. He experienced his initial flight a few months ago to
do media work in New Zealand to promote the Dec. 15 fight.
“Yeah,” Flores explained, “that was my first flight. It took 13
hours, but I slept five or six hours, so it wasn’t too bad, other than being a
little cold there. New Zealand is a beautiful country. The only thing I
really need to acclimate to is the 20-hour time difference.
“I’m not concerned about fighting Parker there. I know I’m the
underdog, but I had to take advantage of this opportunity. We were
supposed to fight November 24th, so I
had already waited a long time for a fight like this. At the end of the
day it’s just going to be me and him in the ring. I’m going there to win, I see
myself knocking him out.”
Parker (24-2, 18 KOs) is coming off back-to-back losses in the United
Kingdom, both by way of 12-round unanimous decisions, respectively, to Dillian Whyte and unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. Parker
captured the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO heavyweight world title two
years ago, when he took a 12-round majority decision over Andy Ruiz, Jr., followed by
unanimous and majority 12-round decisions, respectively, against Razvan Cojanu and Hughie
Fury. Ruiz and Fury were undefeated going into their fights with
Parker, both ending in majority decisions and shrouded in scoring controversy.
Flores’ lone loss as a professional came 3 ½ years ago against
former world champion Charles Martin for
the North American Boxing Organization (NABO) title, in which Flores, who took
the fight with only two weeks’ notice, was stopped in the fourth round.
The powerful Flores, fighting out of Rowland Heights, California,
realizes Parker has never been knocked out as a pro, plus the New Zealander is
fighting at home for the first time in 1 ½ years, but he is not deterred from
predicting a shocking conclusion.
“He’s going to get a little bit of everything from me,” Flores
forcasted. “I’m a boxer-puncher, but I can press the action, or stand and
punch. I’m tough to hit, too. It’s not going the distance; I’m not
going down, Parker’s going down.”
Teofimo Lopez obliterates Mason Menard in 44 seconds with “Knockout of the Year” candidate in front of large viewing audience in ESPN
Photos by Mikey Williams / Top Rank
NEW YORK (December 10, 2018) -Top lightweight Teofimo Lopez scored an explosive 44-second knockout over Mason Menard this past Saturday night at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in a scheduled ten-round bout that was viewed by a massive audience on ESPN.
Lopez landed a crushing right hand that had Menard plummeting face-first on to the canvas, in what was the opening televised bout on the Vasilly Lomachenko – Jose Pedraza lightweight unification card.
Lopez is now the NABA, NABF and USBA Lightweight champion. The knockout, was featured on ESPN SportsCenter, and all over social media, took place on an event which was the 2nd highest rated boxing card on cable television this year
With the win, Lopez pushed his perfect mark to 11-0 with nine knockouts, and now he feels he is ready for anybody in the lightweight division.
“I knew he was a tough fighter. I knew he could fight,” Lopez said. “I wanted to test him, and I took a chance early in the fight. I know he trained hard, and he didn’t want it to go that way. But this is ‘The Takeover.’ ‘The Takeover’ has begun.
“In 2019, I will be a world champion. That’s a guarantee.”
“I put an exclamation point that I am no longer a prospect, and now it’s on to the contenders, and moving up the rankings. In 2019 you will see me fight for a world title.”
Said Lopez manger, David McWater of Split T Management, “He’s just never stops surprising me. Just when you think he can’t do better than his last fight he does something even more amazing. It’s been a generation since boxing saw a young fighter like this”
Teofimo Lopez talks about his explosive KO over Mason Menard
Philadelphia, PA (December 10, 2018) — This past Friday night, Kalvin Henderson remained undefeated, and he established himself as a top super middleweight prospect by scoring a 7th round stoppage over Brandon Robinson in a thrilling battle at the 2300 Arena.
The fight headlined a six-bout card promoted by King’s Promotions. The entire card was streamed live and can be viewed on-demand on the King’s Boxing Facebook page.
The fight was a grueling battle that had many ebbs and flows. The contest at times was a boxing match, with both fighters trying to establish their jabs, but much of it was fought on the inside with each guy having success in the close fight.
In round two, Robinson began to swell under his left eye that was the result of a punch by Henderson.
In round three, but men were cut from punches as Robinson was cut over his right eye, while Henderson was cut over the left optic.
In round five, the fight changed as Henderson dropped Robinson with a hard uppercut. When Robinson got to his feet, his left eye was virtually shut. Robinson showed tremendous courage as he came forward and even, with just one eye, landed some good shots on Henderson.
In round seven, Henderson came out with a renewed vigor, and turned up his work-rate and he dropped Robinson twice and ended the fight at 2:08 of the round.
Henderson, 166.4 lbs of Fort Worth, Texas is now 11-0 with seven knockouts. Robinson, 168.1 lbs of Philadelphia is 11-2.
In the co-feature, Paul Koon shook off four-years of ring rust to win a four-round unanimous decision over Cade Rodriguez in a heavyweight bout.
Koon dropped Rodriguez in round one with a left hook on the inside.
Koon was not able to finish off his large opponent, but came home with to win by scores of 40-35 twice and 39-36.
Koon, 237.4 lbs of Philadelphia is 4-0. Rodriguez, 293.9 lbs of Monroe, GA is 293.9 lbs of Monroe, GA is 2-3.
Romuel Cruz pitched a shutout, and won a four-round unanimous decision over Hugo Rodriguez in a super bantamweight bout. Cruz, 122 lbs of Philadelphia won by scores of 40-36 on all cards, and is now 3-0-1. Rodriguez, 120.9 lbs of Nuevo Leon, Mexico is 0-2.
Isaiah Wise scored a sensational 2nd round stoppage over over Andy Gonzales in a scheduled six-round super welterweight fight. In the opening seconds of the bout, both guys stood toe-to-toe and landed good shots on each other. At the end of the frame, Wise landed a huge right hand that froze Gonzales. Gonzales was looking around the ring, only to eat a monster right that sent him to the canvas. Clearly, the one-minute respite was not enough for Gonzalez, as Wise landed a hard flurry on the ropes, and the fight was stopped at 40 seconds.
Wise, 155.9 lbs of Philadelphia is now 7-2-1 with four knockouts. Gonzales, 151.6 lbs of Worcester, MA is 6-4.
James Brenadin and Sheldon Deverteuil battled to a four-round split draw in a fight featuring undefeated lightweights.
Each fighter took a card 39-37, and a 3rd card read even at 38-38. Brenadin, 139.5 lbs of Lancaster, PA is 1-0-1. Deverteuil, 137.1 lbs of Philadelphia is 1-0-2.
Travis Toledo dropped Ronnie Lawrence twice en-rout to a first round stoppage in a scheduled four-round light heavyweight bout. The time of the finish was 2:30 for Toledo, 173.3 lbs of Baltimore, who is now 4-0 with three knockouts. Lawrence, 174.4 lbs of Philadelphia is 0-3.
BOWIE, MD (December 9, 2018) – Last night at Bowie State University, in Maryland, Prince Ranch Boxing’s rising star, super lightweight prospect Keith “The Bounty” Hunter (9-0, 7 KOs), remained undefeated thanks to a devastating first round knockout against Siddharth Ravindra Varma (4-3-1, 1 KO).
Hunter landed a monstrous right uppercut that sent Varma to the canvas up against the ropes forcing, the referee to stop the bout. “I wanted to send a message to the super lightweight division with a great performance and I got the knockout,” said Keith Hunter. “It felt great to let my hands go. I’m going to get right back in the gym, so I can be ready for anything that comes my way. If my name is called, I’m going to be prepared, locked and loaded.”
“I’m very excited about Keith Hunter’s future,” said manager Greg Hannley, of Prince Ranch Boxing. “Tonight, his power was on display and those watching saw a star in the making. He’s getting better with each fight. He’s going to be a problem for anyone.” This fight was promoted by Greg Cohen Promotions (GCP).
NEW YORK (December 7, 2018) -Undefeated welterweight prospect Brian Ceballo returns home for the 1st time as a professional when he takes on 38-fight veteran, Daniel Calzada this Saturday night at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The 24 year-old from New York City has a record of 5-0 with three knockouts.
The scheduled six-round part will be part of the undercard, which will be streamed live beginning at 6 p.m. eastern time on ESPN+.
Ceballo, who was a five-time New York Golden Gloves champion and took home a staggering 17 National titles, is promoted by 360 Promotions, has been kept very active as this will be his 6th fight in nine fights since turning professional in March.
“It’s great to be fighting at home, and especially being able to fight at Madison Square Garden as a professional boxer,” said Ceballo. “I would like to thank my close team for this opportunity including my coaches Colin Morgan & Khuong Chau, Split-T Management, 360 Promotions, and Top Rank! I look forward to Saturday so that the boxing world can see what Brian Ceballo is really about. Thank you to everyone coming to support.”
“The Garden has always been a special for Brian as he won won several New York Golden Gloves championships there,” said David McWater of Split-T Management. “He is going to put on a show for his family and friends, and show the boxing world why he is looked at as one of the top prospects in the world.”
TORONTO (December 7, 2018) — Former British light heavyweight champion Hosea Burton has never been one to duck a fight. In fact, he’s looking for a fight.
Burton has made his intentions known, calling out undefeated Anthony Yarde, man to man, to his face. The two recently encountered one another during Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder fight week in Los Angeles, California, where Burton was on-hand to support his cousin, Fury.
“Let’s make the fight happen,” Burton told Yarde. “We’re both excited about it. They say I’m not up to you, but let’s get it going man.” Burton has gone undefeated for two years, since suffering his lone career defeat at the hands of Frank Buglioni, a fight in which he was winning prior to a final round stoppage. Buglioni has recently retired from the sport, leaving Burton to set his sights on Yarde, rather than avenging his defeat first.
Yarde recently scored a knockout victory over Walter Sequeira, October 20 in Brentwood, improving his record to 17-0 with 16 knockouts. Burton, however, hasn’t been impressed.
“If he’s six foot, I must be six foot nine, because he’s a lot shorter than that,” Burton said of Yarde’s stature. “I would be his first live opponent. Let’s get it on.”
Yarde’s world ranking would play well into Burton’s plans in 2019, which include fighting for a world title after recapturing his domestic gold.
“This would be one of the biggest domestic light heavyweight fights in UK history. Everyone is already placing Yarde amongst the world’s best, but the fact is, he has to get past Hosea,” noted Adam Harris of Athlete Development and Management. “We believe Hosea is the one who’s ready to go after a world title. Let’s have it out and find out who’s right.”
Burton also plans on showcasing his skills in Canada in the new year, following in the footsteps of his cousin Tyson, the lineal heavyweight champion of the world.
Both Tyson and his cousin, Hughie Fury, fought in Canada early in their pro careers, and have held training camps in the Great White North as well. “Some of the best in the world have been coming to Canada to accelerate their careers,” Harris noted, “including Billy Joe Saunders before his most recent fights and, of course, Tyson in the past. We have a special relationship with the country, and the fight scene in Toronto is booming in a way we’ve never seen before. We have no doubt Hosea will be appreciated and find plenty of competition north of the border.”
‘Baddest Ladies on the Planet’ are Friends and Training Partners
The two baddest ladies on the planet will be side-by-side Saturday night when UFC Superstar Champion Cris Cyborg walks 2x US Olympic gold medal winner and current WBC/WBA/IBF Middleweight Champion Claressa Shields into the ring for T-Rex’s fight versus 168-lb champion Femke Hermans Saturday night live on HBO from Stub Hub Center in Carson, CA.
Cyborg will be taking time out from preparation for her December 29 PPV battle with Amanda Nunes to join Shields and be ringside for the final HBO boxing telecast this Saturday. Shields and Cyborg have a great mutual respect and have trained together in the gym.
“I’m excited to have Cris walk me out and carry my WBC championship belt on Saturday,” said WBC/WBA/IBF Champ Claressa Shields. “She’ll be supporting me on December 8 and I’ll be rooting big for her against Amanda Nunes on December 29. We are the two baddest ladies on the planet.”
“Both Claressa and Cyborg are leaders in their respective combat sports,” said Shields’ promoter, Dmitriy Salita. “Women’s empowerment will be on display on Saturday night on the historic final night of HBO Boxing.”
“In addition to being a celebration of forty-five years of HBO Boxing, Saturday night is a celebration of a new era of women’s boxing and women’s sports,” said Mark Taffet, manager of Claressa Shields and a twenty-five year former HBO Boxing executive. “Claressa Shields and Cris Cyborg are the backbone of the new era, and I’m thrilled Cris will be walking Claressa to the boxing ring on this historic night.”
