Analysis, features, news plus more – on European football and sports galore!
The sight of Arnold Barboza Jr and Teofimo Lopez verbally jawing at one another through a video call during last month’s Last Crescendo bill certainly filtered through to Jack Catterall. Seeing them confirmed for a championship clash in Times Square on May 2 days later would’ve felt even worse. Continue reading “Hearn maintains Catterall’s team want him to jump straight back in big fight”
CO-OP LIVE ARENA, MANCHESTER — Arnold Barboza maintained discipline and composure, even when things threatened to go against him, edging a split decision win over Jack Catterall to claim the vacant WBO interim world junior-welterweight title on Saturday night. His father, Barboza Sr, told me how. Continue reading “Barboza hails flawless display, Sr. lifts lid on ‘crazy’ gameplan in Manchester upset”
CO-OP LIVE ARENA, MANCHESTER — Arnold Barboza relished the pre-fight boos and made sure to thank the crowd afterwards, having produced a career-best display in beating Jack Catterall via split decision, claiming the WBO interim junior-welterweight world title after an exhausting 12-round chess match.
Continue reading “Barboza savvy in draining chess match, stuns Catterall for WBO interim title”
CO-OP LIVE ARENA, MANCHESTER — Four months removed from the contentious last-minute cancellation, Reece Bellotti wasted no punches and produced a bruising beatdown of Michael Gomez Jr to defend his British and Commonwealth super-featherweight titles with a tenth-round stoppage. Continue reading “Catterall-Barboza results: Bellotti bullies Gomez Jr, Dickens stuns Barrett and more”
Unbeaten light-welterweight contender Richardson Hitchins (19-0, #1 IBF) finally gets his chance centre-stage against Liam Paro on Saturday night in Puerto Rico and while the machismo has seemingly diluted any goodwill between the pair, the Brooklyn-born challenger respects a world champion he believes just isn’t good enough to match him down the stretch. Time will tell. Continue reading “Hitchins does rate IBF champion Paro; insists he’s a better boxer and will show it”
Continue reading “CBS-Zurdo unification set for Nov. 16 in Riyadh as cruiserweight moving again”
On what was supposed to be a showcase night for Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions kicking off 2024, we saw one new signee flattened inside a round in the co-main event before veteran referee Tony Weeks produced another controversial early main event stoppage – this time souring Vergil Ortiz Jr’s long-awaited return against overmatched opponent Frederick Lawson.
Continue reading “Ortiz calls out WBO light-middleweight champion Tszyu after anticlimactic R1 KO”
Primed for a welterweight world title shot, Vergil Ortiz Jr was searching for answers after a prolonged health scare saw him withdraw on multiple occasions from career-altering bouts. A rhabdomyolysis diagnosis wasn’t heeded but eventually, he came to the conclusion 147lbs wasn’t a sustainable weight cut any longer – so now it’s onwards to the light-middleweight division. Continue reading “After 17-month layoff, serious health concerns and more – Vergil Ortiz Jr is back”
Teofimo Lopez’s light-welterweight campaign took a stumble on Saturday night, despite eventually getting his hand raised via split decision after a ten-round tussle against Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin. Many have since called for the 25-year-old, who had big plans for 2023, to split from his father Lopez Sr and secure a new coaching team after a drab display. Continue reading “‘Do I still have it?’ Lopez’s vulnerability heightened after split decision win over Sandor Martin”
The Takeover was rebranded as the Takeback, and former lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez did plenty to turn heads on his junior-welterweight debut against a gamely Pedro Campa overnight. The 25-year-old’s fast hands and vicious combos helped him secure a R7 stoppage before calling out all the champions and top contenders at 140lbs – eyeing a return on Dec. 10 at Madison Square Garden – rounding off the year with two fights in four months. Continue reading “The Takeback begins: Lopez overwhelms Campa, secures R7 TKO on junior-welterweight debut”
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