Boxing

11:30 AM ET The biggest fight in women’s boxing history is officially on the schedule. The bout between undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor and seven-division world titlist Amanda Serrano — ESPN’s No. 1 and No. 2 in the pound-for-pound rankings — has been scheduled for April 30 to headline a card in one of the

5:50 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Every time Canelo Alvarez prepares to select his next opponent, the fate of boxers in multiple weight classes hangs in the balance. Just whom — and at which weight — Canelo fights next is still undecided, but sources told ESPN that Alvarez has received two lucrative offers that stand as

8:20 PM ET Canelo Alvarez is planning his return for May, and he reportedly has three options on the table. First, there’s a one-fight deal on the table from Premier Boxing Champions to defend his undisputed super middleweight championship against middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo, who would move up in weight for the challenge. Second, there’s

3:44 AM ET The first ESPN Africa Boxing event of 2022 is set to entertain the boxing world with seven bouts taking place at the EFC Training Institute in Sandton, South Africa on Thursday January 27. The main event will see South Africa’s Koos ‘The Great Last Warrior’ Sibiya taking on Botswana’s Steven ‘Small’ Bagwasi

12:40 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez won’t face Juan Francisco Estrada in a hotly anticipated trilogy fight after all. Estrada withdrew from the bout after he became symptomatic with COVID, sources tell ESPN. In his place, 112-pound champion Julio Cesar Martinez has agreed to a deal for a 115-pound fight with Gonzalez on

12:48 AM ET The longest active run by a male titleholder in boxing is over. Mark Magsayo upset Gary Russell Jr. by majority decision on Saturday night — 114-114, 115-113 and 115-113 — to claim the WBC featherweight title in Atlantic City, New Jersey, taking away Russell’s title after almost seven years with the WBC

7:51 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Gary Russell Jr. is boxing’s longest-reigning champion. As of Saturday, he’ll have held his title for 2,493 days. While he’s undoubtedly one of the most talented fighters in the world, that status is partially due to his low level of activity. Gary Russell Jr. fights just once a year. The

1:46 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Sergey Kovalev and Meng Fanlong are finalizing a 185-pound catchweight fight on March 12 in Los Angeles, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. The Triller Fight Club headliner will be Kovalev’s first bout since November 2019, when Canelo Alvarez brutally knocked him out to capture a light heavyweight title. Kovalev, a

7:20 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Promoter Kalle Sauerland announced last week that Tony Yoka accepted an IBF heavyweight title eliminator with Filip Hrgovic, a rematch of the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight semifinal, but the fight is now in jeopardy due to a contract dispute. Yoka, an Olympic gold medalist, signed to fight Martin Bakole on

8:40 AM ET Former world titleholders Heather Hardy and Terri Harper are both heading back to the ring — to face one another. Hardy, the former WBO world featherweight titlist, and Harper, the former WBC world junior lightweight titlist, are scheduled to fight on March 12 in Nottingham, England, in a lightweight bout as part

2:37 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez are in the process of finalizing a deal for a 130-pound title unification fight on April 30 in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN on Sunday. Sources said no financial agreement has been reached for the proposed ESPN main event. After Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) scored

12:13 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Joe Smith Jr. made the first defense of his WBO light heavyweight title with a ninth-round TKO of Steven Geffrard on Saturday in Verona, New York. Smith (28-3, 22 KOs) dished a beating on Geffrard (16-3, 12 KOs) from the opening bell before finally dropping him to a knee in

9:21 AM ET Chris Eubank Jr.’s bout with Liam Williams has been confirmed for Feb. 5 in the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Boxxer promotions has announced, following uncertainty due to COVID-19 restrictions in Wales. The pair had been scheduled to face off a week earlier on Jan. 29, but the bout was postponed after the

3:55 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Welterweight champion Terence Crawford filed a lawsuit Wednesday against his former promoter Top Rank in Nevada, alleging racial bias on the part of the company’s chairman, Bob Arum. The suit alleges that the 90-year-old Arum “continues to make racist and bigoted statements and purposefully damage the reputations of Black boxers.”

11:23 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Edgar Berlanga and Steve Rolls have agreed to terms for a super middleweight fight on March 19 at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. The bout will be Berlanga’s first since he tore his left biceps in Round 3 of his victory over Marcelo Esteban

3:37 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The investigation surrounding sexual assault accusations against lightweight boxer Rolando Romero is now closed without charges being filed, the Henderson (Nevada) Police Department told ESPN on Tuesday. Romero, 26, was scheduled to fight Gervonta Davis on Dec. 5 in Los Angeles, but he was pulled from the bout in late

8:05 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN George Kambosos Jr. crashed through the glass ceiling in 2021 with an upset victory over Teofimo Lopez in November, capturing all four of Lopez’s lightweight titles. The 28-year-old Australian wasn’t even on the radar of many in the boxing industry, and he was completely overlooked before he fought Lopez. On

2:57 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The junior welterweight bout between Jose Ramirez and Jose Pedraza won’t take place on Feb. 5 as planned because Pedraza is ill with flu-like symptoms, multiple sources told ESPN. The bout, which was set to headline on ESPN+, will be rescheduled to Friday, March 4, at the Save Mart Center