Miscellaneous Boxing News

A couple of cards this weekend. ESPN and Paramount+ are carrying them. DAZN has a card with Callum Simpson vs Troy Williamson.

Aug. 8: Orlando, Florida (ESPN)​

• Title fight: Cherneka Johnson vs. Dina Thorslund, 10 rounds, for Johnson's undisputed women's bantamweight championship
• Title fight: Desley Robinson vs. Tamm Thibeault, 10 rounds, for Robinson's WBO and IBF women's middleweight titles
• Dainier Pero vs. Aleem Whitfield, 10 rounds, heavyweights
• Shurretta Metcalf vs. Amanda Galle, 8 rounds, women's junior bantamweights
• Krystal Rosado vs. Alondra Hernandez, 8 rounds, women's bantamweights
• Sebastian Juarez vs. Rance Ward, 6 rounds, middleweights
• Pedro Da Silva Conceicao vs. TBA, 6 rounds, welterweights
• Angelo Hernandez vs. Jose Fernandez, 4 rounds, featherweights
• Jadden Addison vs. Diondre Hill, 4 rounds, lightweights

Aug. 8: Dublin, Ireland (Paramount+)​

• Title fight: Aaron McKenna vs. Etinosa Oliha, 12 rounds, for the vacant IBF middleweight title
• Callum Walsh vs. Tyler Denny, 10 rounds, middleweights
• Joseph Ward vs. Artjom Kasparian, 10 rounds, light heavyweights
• Connor Coyle vs. Mark Beuke, 10 rounds, middleweights
• Sam Hickey vs. Brad Axe, 8 rounds, middleweights
• Stephen McKenna vs. Owen O'Neill, 8 rounds, middleweights
• Dylan Eagleson vs. TBA, 6 rounds, featherweights

The Irish card seems to be a sequel to the card last week McKenna is fighting a bit of a mystery in the African based out of Italy. In the past African's based out of Italy were decent fighters but back then Italian promoters were more of a force in world boxing. Walsh should have an easy time with the fading Tyler Denny the rest of the card has Irish prospects who I assume are all White.

Outside of the ring Itauma vs Hrgovic is now for the IBF heavyweight title as I speculated it was too big of a bout for it to not be for at least an interim title if not a full vacant belt. From what I have seen of the betting line the Slovak born Mulatto is a 9 to 1 betting favorite it seems too wide for me for a fighter who has never been truly tested with a chin check or a tiring fight that goes deep into a bout.

white is right said:

The Irish card seems to be a sequel to the card last week McKenna is fighting a bit of a mystery in the African based out of Italy. In the past African's based out of Italy were decent fighters but back then Italian promoters were more of a force in world boxing. Walsh should have an easy time with the fading Tyler Denny the rest of the card has Irish prospects who I assume are all White.

Outside of the ring Itauma vs Hrgovic is now for the IBF heavyweight title as I speculated it was too big of a bout for it to not be for at least an interim title if not a full vacant belt. From what I have seen of the betting line the Slovak born Mulatto is a 9 to 1 betting favorite it seems too wide for me for a fighter who has never been truly tested with a chin check or a tiring fight that goes deep into a bout.

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I hope Hrgovic wins, and I believe he would have a very good chance with honest officiating.

But the deck will be stacked against him. There will very likely be a dishonest referee to help Itauma in any way he can. If Hrgovic is a bit stunned like he was against Adeleye, the referee will wave it off, and if Itauma wants to use illegal tactics like Dubois did against Hrgovic (cutting his forehead with multiple headbutts), the referee will permit it. If it goes to the scorecards, Hrgovic has zero chance of winning a decision even if he deserves to win every round.

I agree with your point the referees in GB are wildly inconsistent in big bouts when a fighter is in trouble. We saw Parker get stopped by a debatable TKO but Wardley could have been stopped a good 2 rounds earlier in his title bout with Dubois.

I could see a scenario where Hrgovic is relatively fresh and getting battered similar to the Zhang or Adeleye bouts and one of the A Star referees having a quick hook. Also I agree he will need to batter around Itauma for him to win a points decision any close round should go to the British prospect/contender.

Charles Martel said:

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I completely missed the Zuffa card and instead watched the British card with the two British level Mulatto's headlining the card. Kraus stole the show with his power and precision punching. He is ready for a stiff test of a former champion or a former challenger to either of the two dominant light heavyweights of this era(Beterbiev and Bivol),

It seemed that Walsh had a shoot out early with veteran Denny and then the bout turned into a boxing match that Walsh won going away but this is just off the wire reports I read.

McKenna won a wide decision over the African based out of Italy and had the opponent ready to go late but never found the combination to put him away. I thought the Irishman was the first Irishman to win a middleweight title since the Toy Bulldog but I forgot Andy Lee won the WBO title a decade plus ago.

This is the only card I could find this weekend. If anyone knows about another one, please post it. I am not crazy about the Claressa Shields vs Kaye Scott card.

Aug. 15: Atlanta, Georgia (DAZN)​

• Title fight: Claressa Shields vs. Kaye Scott, 10 rounds, for Scott's WBA and WBC middleweight titles
• Title fight: Danielle Perkins vs. Olivia Curry, 10 rounds, for Perkins' WBA women's light heavyweight title
• Ernesto Mercado vs. Emmanuel Tagoe, 10 rounds, junior welterweights
• Troy Isley vs. Joseph Hicks, 10 rounds, middleweights
• Hakim Lopez Da'Velle Smith, 8 rounds, super middleweights
• Jaquan McElroy vs. Alexander Thiel, 8 rounds, junior middleweights
• Casey Dixon vs. Michael Nelson, 6 rounds, super middleweights
• Daniel Mercado vs. Rahmel McKinley, 4 rounds, junior middleweights

Booth said:

This is the only card I could find this weekend. If anyone knows about another one, please post it. I am not crazy about the Claressa Shields vs Kaye Scott card.

Aug. 15: Atlanta, Georgia (DAZN)​

• Title fight: Claressa Shields vs. Kaye Scott, 10 rounds, for Scott's WBA and WBC middleweight titles
• Title fight: Danielle Perkins vs. Olivia Curry, 10 rounds, for Perkins' WBA women's light heavyweight title
• Ernesto Mercado vs. Emmanuel Tagoe, 10 rounds, junior welterweights
• Troy Isley vs. Joseph Hicks, 10 rounds, middleweights
• Hakim Lopez Da'Velle Smith, 8 rounds, super middleweights
• Jaquan McElroy vs. Alexander Thiel, 8 rounds, junior middleweights
• Casey Dixon vs. Michael Nelson, 6 rounds, super middleweights
• Daniel Mercado vs. Rahmel McKinley, 4 rounds, junior middleweights

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This looks like the only card as I used an AI search and this was the only card that popped up so other cards seem to be just dark cards or at least dark cards for North American viewers.

Probably the biggest news of the week was the contractual/promotional tug of war over who Noel Mikaelian will fight in his next bout. The Armenian wants to fight Jai Opetaia in the chief support of Garcia vs Benn but Don King is trying to block the bout and have him fight David Benavidez in a unification bout.

This sticky situation doesn't look like it can be resolved in 4 weeks time and the Armenian champion will probably be blocked by a court order from King and the promoter of the Mexican-American star. King has had situations in the past where he blocked his fighters from bigger fights because he could make more with another bout, this could be the situation again.

https://www.boxingscene.com/article...nd-david-benavidez-jostle-over-noel-mikaelianFor posters and lurkers don't be fooled by the kindly aging uncle image of King these days he is a ruthless businessman who is on the record for killing a man in a gambling debt dispute and has shortchanged, blocked and scuttled bouts for decades because it wasn't in his professional interest to make bouts regardless if it benefitted the fighter he represented.

No interesting fights on this weekend. I won't be watching Shields.

There are better fight cards coming up later this month, and in September and October.

Charles Martel said:

No interesting fights on this weekend. I won't be watching Shields.

There are better fight cards coming up later this month, and in September and October.

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Yes she comes off as a Ghetto Fabulous WNBA diva it's off putting for most boxing fans. If she wants to stick to the Flint/Detroit bubble at relatively low scale ticket prices she can keep this persona but there is a saying you can get more flies with honey and she should learn from Katie Taylor who deports herself in a complete opposite manner and sells out arenas at much higher ticket prices and will cap her career with a stadium fight in a country the size of a large city.

PS here is the machinations with King and Mikaelian. Soap operas have less complicated drama than his championship run with King...

A couple of cards with a lot of fights with fighters I have never heard of, which turn out to be good fights. Rolly Romero vs Teofimo Lopez is the main fight for Romero's WBA Welterweight title. Russell vs Santillan should be a good fight.

Aug. 21: Temecula, California (TikTok LIVE)​

• Title fight: Amanda Serrano vs. Lucrecia Anabella Manzur, 12 rounds, for Serrano's WBA and WBO women's featherweight titles
• Mayelli Flores vs. Melissa Mortensen, 10 rounds, qomen's junior featherweights
• Lupita Medina vs. Brook Sibrian, 8 rounds, women's strawweights
• Iyana Verduzco vs. Miguelina Hernandez, 8 rounds, women's featherweights
• Albina Moldazhanova vs. Sheila Fabiana Liesegang, 6 rounds, women's junior welterweights
• Jahmal Harvey vs. Hammet Kowany Keb del Valle, 6 rounds, lightweights
• Nelvie Tiafack vs. Salvador Zavala Molina, 6 rounds, heavyweights
• Jocelyn Camarillo vs. Ashley Felix, 6 rounds, women's strawweights
• Jully De Oliveria vs. Cinderella Linnear, 4 rounds, women's junior welterweights
• Paolo Barredo vs. Jorge Elias Garcia Manrriquez, 6 rounds, lightweights
• Keno Marley vs. TBA, 4 rounds, cruiserweights

Aug. 22: Las Vegas (Prime Video PPV, DAZN PPV)​

• Title fight: Rolando "Rolly" Romero vs. Teofimo Lopez Jr., 12 rounds, for Romero's WBA welterweight title
• Victor Santillan vs. Gary Antonio Russell, 12 rounds, for Santillan's junior featherweight title
• Yoenli Hernandez vs. Francisco Daniel Veron, 10 rounds, middleweights
• Carlos Utria vs. Israel Mercado, 10 rounds, junior welterweights
• Marco Romero vs. Kahlil Mitchell, 8 rounds, middleweights
• Benjamin Johnson vs. Jose Gabriel Rodriguez, 6 rounds, welterweights
• Joseph Brown vs. Alton Wiggins, 6 rounds, junior middleweights
• Jordan Roach vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior bantamweights
• Aldo Blancas vs. Ricky Mamone, 4 rounds, junior welterweights

Booth said:

A couple of cards with a lot of fights with fighters I have never heard of, which turn out to be good fights. Rolly Romero vs Teofimo Lopez is the main fight for Romero's WBA Welterweight title. Russell vs Santillan should be a good fight.

Aug. 21: Temecula, California (TikTok LIVE)​

• Title fight: Amanda Serrano vs. Lucrecia Anabella Manzur, 12 rounds, for Serrano's WBA and WBO women's featherweight titles
• Mayelli Flores vs. Melissa Mortensen, 10 rounds, qomen's junior featherweights
• Lupita Medina vs. Brook Sibrian, 8 rounds, women's strawweights
• Iyana Verduzco vs. Miguelina Hernandez, 8 rounds, women's featherweights
• Albina Moldazhanova vs. Sheila Fabiana Liesegang, 6 rounds, women's junior welterweights
• Jahmal Harvey vs. Hammet Kowany Keb del Valle, 6 rounds, lightweights
• Nelvie Tiafack vs. Salvador Zavala Molina, 6 rounds, heavyweights
• Jocelyn Camarillo vs. Ashley Felix, 6 rounds, women's strawweights
• Jully De Oliveria vs. Cinderella Linnear, 4 rounds, women's junior welterweights
• Paolo Barredo vs. Jorge Elias Garcia Manrriquez, 6 rounds, lightweights
• Keno Marley vs. TBA, 4 rounds, cruiserweights

Aug. 22: Las Vegas (Prime Video PPV, DAZN PPV)​

• Title fight: Rolando "Rolly" Romero vs. Teofimo Lopez Jr., 12 rounds, for Romero's WBA welterweight title
• Victor Santillan vs. Gary Antonio Russell, 12 rounds, for Santillan's junior featherweight title
• Yoenli Hernandez vs. Francisco Daniel Veron, 10 rounds, middleweights
• Carlos Utria vs. Israel Mercado, 10 rounds, junior welterweights
• Marco Romero vs. Kahlil Mitchell, 8 rounds, middleweights
• Benjamin Johnson vs. Jose Gabriel Rodriguez, 6 rounds, welterweights
• Joseph Brown vs. Alton Wiggins, 6 rounds, junior middleweights
• Jordan Roach vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior bantamweights
• Aldo Blancas vs. Ricky Mamone, 4 rounds, junior welterweights

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Yes the female card headlined by Serrano has obscure female fighters and a few male prospects as we saw last week the depth in female boxing is paper thin. I suppose the fight is on TikTok live which probably means that no network wanted to pick up this card for any reasonable fee.

The Romero vs Lopez Jr card is a cross roads bout where the loser will have to move to the back of the pack of a strong welterweight division. If Lopez didn't blow hot and cold I would favor him as a strong favorite but you don't know if he has his head on straight as he seems to be distracted by nonsense(ie his wardrobe or what new dance move he will have for the ring walk) in too many of his title bouts.

Also on Sunday Hayden Panettiere the former live in girlfriend of Wladimir Klitschko seemed to overdose on prescription medications. She has been a mess for years and stories have leaked out through her mouth and other sources that she had a entourage similar to the clowns that hung around Dennis Rodman that enabled her drug usage and leached off her finances for drugs and alcohol.

I remember Gill Clancy talked about Jerry Quarry's former wife causing chaos in his training camps due to her disturbing the tranquility of the camp. Well Klitschko broke camp before his fight with Joshua for her personal life issues. She lost parental rights to her daughter and seemed to dive deeper into the world of drug and alcohol abuse after the breakup.

It's hard to believe that a 36 year old may be in a better place than walking the earth but she was that dependent on narcotics and was that adrift, sad news about a talented actress....

Some fighters with potential, including George Liddard and Jimmy Sains, will be on the UK DAZN card Saturday.

Russian-Armenian Vartan Arutyunyan (12-0) will be fighting another undefeated heavyweight Basir Abakarov (11-0) in Russia.

Oleksandr Khyzhniak, who is promoted by Oleksandr Usyk, will have his third pro fight in Ukraine.

Liddard's last fight, for the Commonwealth title:



Prelims for Saturday's card:

A big heavyweight fight headlines this weekend's boxing. On ESPN+ is a women's card with a couple of championship fights. Itauma vs Hrgovic is the main event Saturday. I don't see Hrgovic giving Itauma much trouble. I hope I'm wrong on this prediction.

Aug. 29: Birmingham, England (ESPN+)​

• Title fight: Chantelle Cameron vs. Mikaela Mayer, 10 rounds, for Cameron's WBO women's junior middleweight title and Mayer's WBA and WBC women's junior middleweight titles
• Title fight: Caroline Dubois vs. Amelia Moore, 10 rounds, for Dubois' WBO and WBC women's lightweight titles
• Reina Tellez vs. Jessica Barry, 8 rounds, women's featherweights
• Terri Harper vs. Miranda Reyes, 10 rounds, women's junior welterweights
• Tysie Gallagher vs. Ashleigh Johnson, 6 rounds, women's junior featherweights
• Neeraj Goyat vs. Yessin Koulai, 6 rounds, women's junior welterweights
• Scott Melvin vs. Dylan Cheema, 8 rounds, lightweights
• Shannon Courtenay vs. Ebonie Cotton, 6 rounds, junior bantamweights
• Gemma Paige vs. Kirstie Bavington, 6 rounds, women's junior welterweights

Aug. 29: London (DAZN PPV)​

• Title fight: Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgovic, 12 rounds, for the vacant IBF heavyweight title
• Sam Noakes vs. Denys Berinchyk, 12 rounds, lightweights
• Constantin Ursu vs. Ben Vaughan, 12 rounds, welterweights
• Aloys Youmbi vs. Mike Perez, 10 rounds, cruiserweights
• Tony Curtis vs. Imad Naseeb, 8 rounds, junior bantamweights
• Abnor Jashari vs. Numan Hussain, 8 rounds, junior lightweights
• Guido Vianello vs. Moses Jolly, 8 rounds, heavyweights
• Frankie Wood vs. Callum Lee, 6 rounds, featherweights
• Sam King vs. Jack Swallow, 6 rounds, middleweights
• Zayn Ahmed vs. Liam Fitzmaurice, 4 rounds, junior featherweights
• Hassan Ishaq vs. Enzo Bahiano Munoz, 4 rounds, junior featherweights

Aug. 29: Los Angeles (ProBox TV)​

• Lester Martinez vs. Luka Plantic, 12 rounds, for Martinez's WBC interim super middleweight title
• Najee Lopez vs. Juan Carrillo, 10 rounds, light heavyweights
• Ramon Cardenas vs. Leonardo Carrillo, 10 rounds, junior featherweights
• Luis Torres Valenzuela vs. Jordan White, 10 rounds, lightweights
• Weljon Mindoro vs. Carlos Ocampo, 10 rounds, middleweights
• Hugo Amador Mendez vs. Jonathan Martin Morales Mendez, 6 rounds, lightweights
• Malachi Ross vs. Edwine Humaine Junior, 6 rounds, junior middleweights
• Emilio Garcia vs. Luis Guerrero Garcia, 6 rounds, welterweights
• Jose Mejia Garibo vs. Aram Alberto Menindez Pedraza, 4 rounds, featherweights
• Ramon Ordonez vs. Rafael Alejandro Ibarra Perez, 4 rounds, featherweights

Booth said:

A big heavyweight fight headlines this weekend's boxing. On ESPN+ is a women's card with a couple of championship fights. Itauma vs Hrgovic is the main event Saturday. I don't see Hrgovic giving Itauma much trouble. I hope I'm wrong on this prediction.

Aug. 29: Birmingham, England (ESPN+)​

• Title fight: Chantelle Cameron vs. Mikaela Mayer, 10 rounds, for Cameron's WBO women's junior middleweight title and Mayer's WBA and WBC women's junior middleweight titles
• Title fight: Caroline Dubois vs. Amelia Moore, 10 rounds, for Dubois' WBO and WBC women's lightweight titles
• Reina Tellez vs. Jessica Barry, 8 rounds, women's featherweights
• Terri Harper vs. Miranda Reyes, 10 rounds, women's junior welterweights
• Tysie Gallagher vs. Ashleigh Johnson, 6 rounds, women's junior featherweights
• Neeraj Goyat vs. Yessin Koulai, 6 rounds, women's junior welterweights
• Scott Melvin vs. Dylan Cheema, 8 rounds, lightweights
• Shannon Courtenay vs. Ebonie Cotton, 6 rounds, junior bantamweights
• Gemma Paige vs. Kirstie Bavington, 6 rounds, women's junior welterweights

Aug. 29: London (DAZN PPV)​

• Title fight: Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgovic, 12 rounds, for the vacant IBF heavyweight title
• Sam Noakes vs. Denys Berinchyk, 12 rounds, lightweights
• Constantin Ursu vs. Ben Vaughan, 12 rounds, welterweights
• Aloys Youmbi vs. Mike Perez, 10 rounds, cruiserweights
• Tony Curtis vs. Imad Naseeb, 8 rounds, junior bantamweights
• Abnor Jashari vs. Numan Hussain, 8 rounds, junior lightweights
• Guido Vianello vs. Moses Jolly, 8 rounds, heavyweights
• Frankie Wood vs. Callum Lee, 6 rounds, featherweights
• Sam King vs. Jack Swallow, 6 rounds, middleweights
• Zayn Ahmed vs. Liam Fitzmaurice, 4 rounds, junior featherweights
• Hassan Ishaq vs. Enzo Bahiano Munoz, 4 rounds, junior featherweights

Aug. 29: Los Angeles (ProBox TV)​

• Lester Martinez vs. Luka Plantic, 12 rounds, for Martinez's WBC interim super middleweight title
• Najee Lopez vs. Juan Carrillo, 10 rounds, light heavyweights
• Ramon Cardenas vs. Leonardo Carrillo, 10 rounds, junior featherweights
• Luis Torres Valenzuela vs. Jordan White, 10 rounds, lightweights
• Weljon Mindoro vs. Carlos Ocampo, 10 rounds, middleweights
• Hugo Amador Mendez vs. Jonathan Martin Morales Mendez, 6 rounds, lightweights
• Malachi Ross vs. Edwine Humaine Junior, 6 rounds, junior middleweights
• Emilio Garcia vs. Luis Guerrero Garcia, 6 rounds, welterweights
• Jose Mejia Garibo vs. Aram Alberto Menindez Pedraza, 4 rounds, featherweights
• Ramon Ordonez vs. Rafael Alejandro Ibarra Perez, 4 rounds, featherweights

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Yes it's triple header card but the only bout that is truly getting world attention is Itauma vs Hrgovic.

I saw the current odds of the fight and at a few sports books Itauma is a 11 to 1 favorite which would mean it's a coronation. I don't think Tyson vs Berbick had this wide of odds and Hrgovic beat tougher opponents than Berbick did in his era. Hrgovic will need to tire out Itauma and fight dirty or at least bend the rules with holding and leaning on the prospect/contender. He will have to do what Mercer did to Morrison and tire him out by eating a barrage of punches and still be there and then take him to deep waters and get the Itauma corner to pull their fighter or spark him out.

On the undercard Sam Noakes should beat veteran former champion Denis Berinchyk who is very old for a lightweight and took a bad beating at the hands of Davis in his last high profile bout. Guido Vianello should be in a showcase bout in his mid card bout he needs to win and look good and he could be in high profile bout, maybe against the winner of this bout in a title fight.

Also in a side note Gerry Cooney turned 70 this week. Cooney who while never winning the title has won in life for a former world level boxer as he has never had financial difficulties and has kept his mental acuity. That alone has separated him from most of his peers..

Mike Perez has pulled out of Saturday's card.

There's been another heavyweight fight added: Thomas Narmo (14-0) vs. Nelson Hysa (24-0).

Guido Vianello's opponent is tall with exceptionally long arms, but has only ever fought smaller and limited opposition. I expect the Italian will win since he has a better level of boxing skill.

Hrgovic-Itauma is a helluva match-up. I'm really intrigued by this fight. Like a lot of people I'm wondering why Ituama's people took such a jump in class at this stage in his career.

Chin I think will be the deciding factor. The Croatian has a great chin. Ituama's is THE question mark of this fight. If he can take a punch then I think he will chop up the cut prone Hrgovic and end the fight on cuts.

The Morrison-Mercer fights also came to my mind. Morrison was the faster and arguably harder hitter but Mercer's chin won out and we all saw what happened.

If Hrgovic's skin holds up and it turns into a see-saw battle who knows...

Can't wait for this fight.