Author: Paul Magno

Here are the most eye-catching stories from this weekend’s boxing news and ring action: – It was probably for the best that Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez missed the light heavyweight limit by a substantial 7.6 pounds during Friday’s weigh-in for Saturday’s bout with Gabriel Rosado. Widely considered a dangerous mismatch, the Ramirez-Rosado bout was scrapped from the DAZN/Golden Boy main event slot at The Walter Pyramid on the campus of California State University-Long Beach in Long Beach, California. The well-worn 37-year-old Rosado was, arguably, at his prime at 154 lbs. thirteen or fourteen years ago and has never competed above the…

The buzz is everywhere. Manny Pacquiao vs. Conor Benn, likely in Abu Dhabi, June 3. This would be the 44-year-old Pacquiao’s first “real,” non-exhibition fight since he was upset via unanimous decision by Yordenis Ugas in August of 2021. It would also be lose-lose for the Filipino icon, but more on that later. The Ugas loss was an ugly one and it seemed like a bright, glaring sign that it was time for the future first ballot Hall of Famer to finally hang up his gloves. Given how sluggish and “off” Manny looked against the Cuban, fans shuddered at the…

It was one of boxing’s most poorly kept secrets. Any even marginally keyed-in boxing fan could’ve told you since last fall who Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was probably going to be fighting next. Super middleweight contender John Ryder had been on the periphery of contention for a bout with Alvarez for a while. But, after Alvarez’s big money third bout with Gennadiy Golovkin last September, a loss to Dmitry Bivol the May before that– following an impressive 4-fights in eleven months run that saw him unify all four belts in the 168 lb. division– the UK’s Ryder seemed a…

Where there was once confidence, there is now an increasing sense of frustration. Once upon a time, it seemed like a sure thing that WBC champ Tyson Fury and IBF/WBA/WBO titlist Oleksandr Usyk would meet one another in a 4-belt full heavyweight title unification clash. Despite some financial issues that were made public, everybody felt that, given the characters of the fighters in question, things would get worked out. Then, Fury responded to a 60-40 revenue split proposal (with the winner getting the larger cut). Via social media video, the Gypsy King came back with a 70-30 split in his…

Here are the most eye-catching stories from this weekend’s boxing news and ring action: – Saturday proved to be a heck of a coming out party for second generation fighter and Australian star Tim Tszyu as he passed the biggest test of his career thus far with flying colors. The 28-year-old son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu dominated former WBC junior middleweight champ Tony Harrison and stopped him in nine rounds to capture the vacant interim WBO junior middleweight title at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. Although the 32-year-old Harrison had some moments and was able to keep…

On Wednesday night, outside of a Miami Heat-Cleveland Cavaliers game in Miami, boxer/YouTuber/influencer Jake Paul was accosted by Floyd Mayweather and several members of his entourage and, literally, chased from the scene. A video posted on celebrity gossip site TMZ shows Paul being taunted outside the arena by Mayweather and at least a couple dozen Mayweather hangers-on. One of the Mayweather crowd could be heard saying: “What happened, you’re not tough anymore, since your loss? What happened since your loss? Are we gonna bust him up guys?” A clearly spooked Paul could be seen backing up tentatively before fleeing in…

It finally feels real. After a long and rocky road through the negotiation process, Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Ryan “King Ry” Garcia are confirmed to be fighting one another April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Wednesday, the two fighters showed up in New York City to stir up interest in the event’s kickoff press conference. “I think this is important because we’re both young,” the 28-year-old Davis told media. “Both of us are at our peak. A lot of young fighters don’t fight each other. We both made our name coming up and the time is now. We’re…

Errol Spence vs. Terence Crawford. Will this be one of the great unrealized major fights of this modern era. Is all hope lost? Maybe not. According to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, the two undefeated welterweight titlists have now taken a hands-on approach to make their big welterweight unification bout, opening a direct line of communication between themselves to get a deal put together. Crawford, who has been ordered by the WBO to defend his title against top contender Alexis Rocha, would, apparently, rather go to a big ticket Spence clash than deal with a fighter in Rocha, who would be a…

Here are the most eye-catching stories from this weekend’s boxing news and ring action: – There was lots of fan-friendly action in Saturday’s Showtime main event at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California in the Brandon Figueroa-Mark Magsayo scrap for the interim WBC featherweight title. There was also some controversy. Although the 26-year-old Figueroa getting the win wasn’t all that controversial, the three wide judges scores in his favor (117-109, 117-109, 118-108) were a bit of a head-scratcher. Referee Thomas Taylor’s decision to deduct two points over Magsayo’s failure to break was also widely criticized although, ultimately, the points deductions didn’t…

Caleb Plant is not shy about opening up when it comes to his thoughts on upcoming opponent David Benavidez or, even, Benavidez’s father and trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. With just about three weeks to go before the highly-anticipated bad blood super middleweight clash, Plant once again let loose with his contempt for all things Benavidez. “I don’t know what his deal is, but I think he’s nervous, and he feels he’s got a real fight on his hands. He’s never had a fight like this before, and he better come right,” Plant told ABN Sports Media, referring to David Benavidez.…