Boxing

11:35 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Oscar Valdez wasn’t the only person to be scrutinized by the boxing world after he tested positive for the banned substance phentermine ahead of his victory over Robson Conceicao earlier this month. His trainer, Mexico’s Eddy Reynoso, was dragged into the controversy, and had his reputation called into question by

7:53 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Boxing has myriad issues, but chief among them is inactivity. That problem was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the inability to hold fights in front of capacity crowds. But even with many of those restrictions behind us, many notable boxers have no fights officially scheduled despite not having competed

12:15 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Joe Smith Jr. was hospitalized with COVID-19 and his Oct. 30 light heavyweight title defense vs. Umar Salamov has been postponed, the boxer’s promoter, Joe DeGuardia, told ESPN on Tuesday. The 32-year-old stayed in a Long Island, New York, hospital overnight before being released, according to DeGuardia. The 175-pound title

11:57 AM ET World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has signed a new “career-long” agreement with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, the promoters announced on Tuesday, although the length of the deal is undisclosed. Joshua will put his WBA, IBF and WBO world title belts on the line when he fights Oleksandr Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

6:19 PM ET BEVERLY HILLS — Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant started their scheduled fight more than a month early. The two boxers got into an ugly punching exchange during a staredown at a news conference Tuesday at the Beverly Hilton hotel. Alvarez and Plant are scheduled to fight for the unified super middleweight title

5:31 PM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Anthony Joshua has been concentrating on overcoming Oleksandr Usyk’s southpaw stance in preparation for Saturday’s world heavyweight title defence. The WBA, IBF and WBO

2:39 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Manny Pacquiao has not made a decision on his future despite comments from the boxer suggesting he has retired, Sean Gibbons, the president of Pacquiao’s promotional company, told ESPN on Monday. The future Hall of Famer, during an interview with Filipina star Toni Gonzaga on Sunday, said his “boxing career

11:51 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Probellum, a boxing promotion and media company, launched on Monday, the company’s president, Richard Schaefer, told ESPN. The company aims to take a global approach to the sport, using alliances in different territories — Europe, Eastern Bloc, Asia, Middle East and Africa among them — in an attempt to unify

6:24 PM ET The Mikaela Mayer-Maiva Hamadouche junior welterweight unification title bout will take place as a main event on Nov. 5 in Las Vegas, a source told ESPN on Sunday. The fight will be the second defense of the WBO junior welterweight title for Mayer (15-0, 5 KOs), who beat Erica Farias by a

6:31 AM ET Philip Matel Philippine senator and boxing icon Manny Pacquiao accepted the nomination of the PDP-Laban-Pacquiao faction to run for president in the 2022 Philippine elections scheduled in May. In the faction’s national assembly held in Quezon City on Sunday, Pacquiao ended months of speculation by pushing through with his biggest fight outside

7:54 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Oleksandr Usyk’s journey to his heavyweight title fight against unified champion Anthony Joshua in London on Sept. 25 has not been without success or

2:16 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Stephen Fulton and Brandon Figueroa will put their respective 122-pound titles on the line when they meet Nov. 27 at Park MGM in Las Vegas, Premier Boxing Champions announced Thursday. The Showtime main event was set for Sept. 18 but was postponed after Figueroa tested positive for COVID-19. Murodjon Akhmadaliev,

8:35 AM ET Associated Press LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The boundary between amateur and professional boxing blurred further Thursday with the International Boxing Association offering prize money of up to $100,000 for the first time at the historically amateur men’s world championships. AIBA said a total prize fund of $2.6 million was in place to award

7:56 AM ET Terence Crawford is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, the current WBO welterweight titleholder and a former undisputed junior welterweight champion. However, he’s been critiqued for not facing the best fighters in the welterweight division. One of the issues is that most of the top 147-pounders are with a

4:22 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Dillian Whyte, who has made a career out of taking on tough opposition, has another formidable opponent lined up. “The Body Snatcher” and Otto Wallin have agreed to terms for an Oct. 30 bout at the O2 Arena in London, sources tell ESPN. Whyte, ESPN’s No. 6 heavyweight, owns victories

7:51 AM ET WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford will get the signature fight he’s wanted when he faces former champ Shawn Porter on Nov. 20 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), 33, of Omaha, Nebraska, hasn’t fought since a fourth-round TKO victory over Kell Brook in November

10:58 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Terence Crawford finally has the big fight he’s been looking for. Crawford, ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer, and Shawn Porter have struck a deal for a welterweight title fight on Nov. 20 at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay on ESPN+ pay-per-view, multiple sources tell ESPN, avoiding a purse bid scheduled for

8:01 AM ET Multiple Contributors Vitor Belfort stopped Evander Holyfield this past weekend in Florida in the latest installment of boxing’s nontraditional fights. This bout lasted only a minute, but that was long enough for many fans to turn sour at the current state of the sport. Where do boxing and these lucrative money-making endeavors