Boxing

7:53 PM ET GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jake Paul and Anderson Silva agreed to an unorthodox bet two days before they are set to meet in a boxing match. Paul proposed to Silva on Thursday at the prefight news conference that if Silva wins, Paul will do a rematch with the UFC legend in a kickboxing

9:21 AM ET Mark KriegelESPN CAMARILLO, Calif. — Fights are often compared to wars, though it’s no longer a metaphor Vasiliy Lomachenko cares to indulge. Not anymore. Not after seeing the real thing. With respect to war, Ukraine’s two-time gold medalist, considered for several consecutive years to be the greatest fighter in the world, has

9:05 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez are in the process of finalizing a deal for a fight in the first quarter of 2023, sources tell ESPN. It’s expected one of the two 130-pound titles vacated by Shakur Stevenson will be on the line in the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN main

2:33 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The British Boxing Board of Control announced Wednesday that “allegations of misconduct” against welterweight contender Conor Benn were upheld at a Friday hearing. Benn was slated to fight Chris Eubank Jr. earlier this month, but the event was scrapped after The BBBofC refused to sanction the 157-pound catchweight bout following

8:30 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Le’Veon Bell sat on the ring apron inside Mayweather Boxing and Fitness in Hollywood, wiped the sweat from his forehead and narrowed his eyes. Just a few weeks earlier, Bell connected on punches that dropped — and ultimately knocked out — fellow former NFL running back Adrian Peterson in

7:46 AM ET Timothy Bradley Jr. Anderson Silva is 3-1 in his boxing career and 2-0 since returning in 2021 (the other two fights were in 1998 and 2005). In his last two fights, both in 2021, he won a split decision over former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and scored a first-round KO

10:50 PM ET Prominent boxing promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing filed a lawsuit last month against Jake Paul for defamation after Paul, in an interview, accused Matchroom of paying off a boxing judge, who is now also suing Paul. Glenn Feldman, a prolific and well-known boxing judge, is joining Hearn’s lawsuit against Paul with

9:19 AM ET Connor O’Halloran Tyson Fury provides a natural center in the heavyweight division, the man whom every other fighter at the top of the division orbits around. He is the Gypsy King for a reason. It has been a drama-filled year in the division already, with two world title defenses, the emergence of

10:58 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford and David Avanesyan have signed contracts for a pay-per-view fight on Dec. 10 at CHI Health Center in the champion’s native Omaha, Nebraska, Crawford told ESPN on Thursday. The fight will be available on BLK Prime for $39.95, a spokesperson for the streaming service told ESPN.

7:49 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford were on the verge of a deal for an undisputed welterweight championship fight in November, but with talks stalled, and Crawford agreeing to a fight against David Avanesyan on Dec. 10, it’s unclear if they’ll ever meet in a ring, let alone next. Tyson

6:56 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 Tyson Fury regularly takes aim at rival heavyweights and promoters he doesn’t work with, but no amount of talking is likely to silence the

10:34 AM ET Connor O’Halloran LONDON — Tyson Fury has said he rates Derek Chisora as highly as Oleksandr Usyk as he prepares for the trilogy fight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December. Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) will defend his WBC heavyweight belt against Chisora (33-12, 23 KOs) in north London on Dec. 3.

6:12 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Tyson Fury has confirmed he will take on Derek Chisora in their trilogy fight on Dec. 3 at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for Fury’s WBC heavyweight title. On Thursday, Fury tweeted confirmation of the bout, which will be streamed on ESPN+, as the two heavyweights face each other for the

7:46 AM ET There’s a new face atop the junior lightweight division. Alycia Baumgardner continued her massive rise by beating Mikaela Mayer by split decision to become the unified champion at 130 pounds, now holding the IBF, WBC and WBO belts. Baumgardner (13-1, 7 KO) jumped out early in the fight to take a lead

7:45 AM ET Claressa Shields is back on top in the ESPN women’s pound-for-pound rankings after a dominant victory over Savannah Marshall. With the victory, Shields (13-0, 2 KOs), became the undisputed middleweight champion for the second time. She is the first fighter, male or female, to be undisputed in the same division twice. She’s

5:13 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Kazuto Ioka and Joshua Franco have agreed to terms for a 115-pound title unification on Dec. 31 in Japan, sources told ESPN. Ioka (29-2, 15 KOs) holds the WBO junior bantamweight title, while Franco (18-1-2, 8 KOs) was elevated by the WBA in August after its super champion, Juan Francisco

3:47 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall have agreed to terms for a Feb. 4 rematch in the U.K. for Taylor’s WBO junior welterweight championship, sources told ESPN. Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs) retained his four 140-pound titles via a controversial split decision when he faced Catterall in February in his native Scotland.

1:37 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN David Benavidez and Jose Uzcategui are finalizing a deal for a super middleweight bout slated for January, sources told ESPN. The pair were set to square off in November 2021 before Uzcategui tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug rEPO (recombinant erythropoietin), a synthetic version of EPO. Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs)