Boxing

Apr 26, 2024, 05:56 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Marlen Esparza missed weight by two pounds on Friday, losing her WBC, WBO and WBA flyweight titles on the scales. Esparza (14-1, 1 KO), of Houston, Texas, who came in at 114 pounds for the 112-pound bout, will still fight Saturday night at the Save Mart

Timothy Bradley Jr.Apr 26, 2024, 08:02 AM ET Close Timothy Bradley Jr. is an ESPN’s boxing analyst, a two-division, five-time world champion and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Open Extended Reactions The first four months of 2024 have been busy for some of boxing’s best divisions. Others haven’t seen much activity

Associated Press Apr 24, 2024, 04:50 PM ET CARACAS, Venezuela — Francisco “Morochito” Rodríguez, the boxer who won Venezuela’s first Olympic gold medal, died Tuesday at age 78. Venezuela’s Olympic Committee confirmed Rodriguez’ death on Wednesday on its social media channels but did not provide details. Local media reported he had been hospitalized in Caracas

Apr 24, 2024, 08:05 AM ET Open Extended Reactions In one of the most entertaining fights between two of boxing’s young stars this year, Ryan Garcia defeated Devin Haney by majority decision Saturday night at a packed Barclays Center in New York City. Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) entered the fight surrounded by controversy, erratic comments

Mike Coppinger, ESPNApr 23, 2024, 01:21 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Matchroom Boxing won today’s Jaron Ennis-Cody Crowley IBF welterweight title purse bid at $3.9 million, sources tell ESPN. TGB Promotions, which has Crowley on the short end of an 85-15 split, bid $2 million. Hearn told ESPN on Friday he plans to hold Ennis’

Mike Coppinger, ESPNApr 23, 2024, 03:36 PM ET Open Extended Reactions A junior middleweight fight between former champion Tim Tszyu and Vergil Ortiz Jr. is being planned for Aug. 3 in L.A., sources tell ESPN. Ortiz must first defeat major underdog Thomas Dulorme on Saturday and emerge uninjured in a bout that will serve as

Mike Coppinger, ESPNApr 22, 2024, 08:48 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz will fight Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles while Pitbull Cruz will defend his WBA junior welterweight title against Jose Valenzuela, sources told ESPN on Monday. The fights will take place on the Terence Crawford-Israil

Mike Coppinger, ESPNApr 21, 2024, 03:42 AM ET Open Extended Reactions NEW YORK — Ryan Garcia was laughed at, mocked and called a clown by Devin Haney. At no time during the lead-up to his fight with one of the pound-for-pound best was Garcia taken seriously. That is until the opening minute of Saturday’s fight,

Mike Coppinger, ESPNApr 21, 2024, 01:24 AM ET Open Extended Reactions NEW YORK — Ryan Garcia’s fitness to fight was questioned in the lead-up to Saturday night’s bout with Devin Haney, a turbulent promotion that was highlighted by Garcia’s erratic comments. Garcia was a major underdog and was virtually counted out entering Saturday evening. His

Mike Coppinger, ESPNApr 19, 2024, 02:09 PM ET Open Extended Reactions NEW YORK — Ryan Garcia weighed 143.2 pounds Friday, 3.2 pounds over the 140-pound limit for his fight against Devin Haney, and afterward didn’t attempt to lose the extraneous weight, sources told ESPN. Instead, Garcia immediately asked to cut a deal for the fight

Mike Coppinger, ESPNApr 19, 2024, 03:34 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Terence Crawford, ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer, will move up to 154 pounds to challenge Israil Madrimov for his WBA junior middleweight title Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, sources told ESPN. The event will be presented by Riyadh Season under His Excellency Turki Alalshikh,

Mike Coppinger, ESPNApr 19, 2024, 11:04 AM ET Open Extended Reactions NEW YORK — One after another, with the same rapid speed Ryan Garcia displays with his fists in the ring, the incendiary remarks reached his 18 million-plus social media followers. The children, he said, needed to be saved from sex trafficking among other atrocities.

Devin Haney puts his WBC junior welterweight title on the line against former interim lightweight champ Ryan Garcia Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The fight between two of the brightest young stars in boxing has been largely anticipated. Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) is a master of the ring. His lack of

Boxing Australia’s head coach has admitted to “disgusting” sexual misconduct involving female fighters and has withdrawn from the Paris Olympics. Jamie Pittman has apologised at the National Sports Tribunal, which has delivered damning findings about his behaviour. Pittman, national coach since 2021, has withdrawn from the Olympics in Paris, and the tribunal has recommended a

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterApr 16, 2024, 08:44 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing will have an even bigger rematch. Two-weight undisputed champion Katie Taylor will once again face Amanda Serrano on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, as the co-main event of the boxing

James Regan Apr 16, 2024, 09:03 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Anthony Joshua last fought in March, knocking out Francis Ngannou inside two rounds. Richard Pelham/Getty Images British heavyweight Anthony Joshua looks set to headline a major fight at London’s Wembley Stadium in September. Promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren confirmed on Tuesday that Turki Alalshikh,

Nick ParkinsonApr 16, 2024, 08:58 AM ET Close Reports on boxing for ESPN.com and has been covering British boxing for over 25 years. Open Extended Reactions It took years for rival promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn to even speak to each other, but now they are working together to create boxing events, and on

James Regan Apr 15, 2024, 02:48 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Deontay Wilder has hinted his fight against Zhilei Zhang on the undercard of Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev’s undisputed light heavyweight world title fight in Saudi Arabia could be his last. Heavyweight Wilder was beaten in dominant fashion by Joseph Parker in December, while