Canelo vs Margarito CONFIRMED

Shafikov TKOs Herring in ten By Karl Freitag (Fightnews.com) Two-time world title challenger Denis Shafikov (37-2-1, 20 KOs) scored a tenth round TKO over previously unbeaten lightweight Jamel Herring (15-1, 8 KOs) on Saturday night at the Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania. Taking a big step up in level of competition, 2012 U.S. Olympian Herring tried to work the jab from the outside against the aggressive and much shorter Shafikov. Shafikov dropped Herring with a right hook at the end of round two. Herring stood his ground in round three as both fighters landed good shots. Shafikov took control in round five, battering Herring. Herring was cut over the right eye in round seven, ruled from a headbutt. After Shafikov punished Herring in round nine, Herring’s corner threw in the towel in round ten when Herring took another big punch. Time was :36. 1st fight Unbeaten super welterweight Patryk Szymanski (16-0, 9 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a ten round unanimous decision over Wilky Campfort (21-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at the Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania. Szymanski outboxed and frustrated Campfort the whole way en route to a 98-92, 99-91, 99-91 win. Campfort, coming off an unsuccessful world title challenge against IBF jr middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, dropped his second straight. Joshua KOs Breazeale in seven, retains IBF heavyweight title (Last Saturday) By Karl Freitag (Fightnews.com) IBF heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) scored a seventh round KO over previously unbeaten Dominic Breazeale (17-1, 15 KOs) to retain his title on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London. The 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Joshua staggered Breazeale in round two, but Breazeale survived Joshua’s onslaught. Joshua continued to batter Breazeale and finally dropped him twice in round seven to end it. Time was 1:01. Thurman edges Porter, retains WBA welterweight title in one to remember (Last Saturday Night Main Event) In a fight of the year candidate Thurman (27-0, 22 KO’s) retained his WBA title with a close unanimous decision win on three identical scores of 115-113. Both men gave an incredible effort and ended the fight bruised, bleeding and exhausted. Essentially the bout was a tale of two styles: Porter’s relentless but often ineffective aggression versus Thurman’s selective but powerful counterpunches. Thurman had a 203-177 edge in power punches landed but Porter was the busier fighter and averaged 55 thrown per round to 44 for Thurman. Porter had the advantage in jabs. Overall, Thurman connected with 43.6% of his shots; Porter landed 35.6%. (Note: Highest PBC or boxing show this year averaging 3.1 million views. Fight peaked at 4 million) Margarito to fight Canelo’s brother Former IBF welterweight world champion Antonio “The Tijuana Tornado” Margarito (39-8, 27 KOs) will be back in action on August 13 against Ramón “Inocente” Álvarez (23-4-2, 15 KOs) at the Centro de Convenciones in Rosarito, Baja California. Margarito returned from nearly a five year layoff in March to outpoint Jorge Paez Jr. over ten rounds. Margarito said it doesn’t worry him that Alvarez is the older brother of boxing superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. “It will just Ramon and I fighting in the ring,” said Margarito. “Nobody else will help him or me.” Alvarez stressed that fights are won by doing excellent preparations before the match and giving everything in the ring, not by last names. The card will be presented by Zanfer Promotions. Canelo opponent named: Liam “Beefy” Smith Canelo Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) will look to win his third title in the junior middleweight division when he challenges undefeated heavy-hitter Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) for the WBO junior middleweight world championship on Saturday, September 17. The event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. Information regarding venue and tickets will be announced shortly. Canelo Alvarez: “I am very pleased to announce my next fight against Liam Smith, a tremendous fighter with real knockout power, and the WBO junior middleweight world title owner. I have no doubt that this fight will be give and take, which will fill the expectations of the fans, and I will work with all the enthusiasm as I always do to get the upper hand on 17 September.” Liam Smith: “I am delighted to get the opportunity to defend my world title against the biggest name in world boxing and to headline in the U.S. which is a dream I have had since I started in the sport of boxing. This fight allows me to make my name in the U.S. and show just how good I am and this is the big stage that will enable me to do that…I am confident of winning this fight and returning to the great city of Liverpool with my belt still around my waist.” (Note: GBP looking to add Soto-Karass(28-10-4, 18 KO's) vs Kamegai (26-3-2, 23 KO's) II as part undercard to Canelo vs Smith. The first fight between the two fighters ended in a draw) New WADA guidelines appear to clear Povetkin WADA has just issued a new Meldonium report, that appears to back heavyweight Alexander Povetkin’s claim that he didn’t take Meldonium after the substance was banned on January 1. Povetkin’s test revealed 0.07 micrograms of Meldonium in April, under the 1 µg /mL amount permitted between March 1 and September 30 under the updated guidelines. The Povetkin-Wilder fight was supposed to take place on May 21 at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow. But it was postponed after one of the samples showed traces of Meldonium in extremely low concentrations – 70 nano grams. A lawsuit seeking damages for defamation and breach of contract was filed on June 23 by Povetkin and his promoter Andrey Ryabinsky, President of the World of Boxing promotional firm . The complaint was lodged in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The defendants are WBC heavyweight boxing champion Deontay Wilder, DiBella Entertainment and its CEO, Lou DiBella. The claim is for at least $34.5 million. (Note: WBC Will announce a decision on Wilder vs Povetkin will come down next week) Malignaggi returns on Sho Extreme An all-Brooklyn showdown between welterweight technicians Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi (35-7, 7 KOs) and Gabriel “Tito” Bracero (24-2, 5 KOs) highlights the Showtime Extreme portion of the July 30 Santa Cruz-Frampton card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. “I have known Tito a long time and I know he always comes to fight,” said Malignaggi. “We will give the Brooklyn fans a great appetizer before the terrific main event later that night in Barclays Center.” Bracero comes off of a sensational one-punch knockout of rival Danny O’Connor in their rematch last October. “I’m looking to make a statement by winning this fight,” said Bracero. “Paulie and I have been friends since the amateurs and I’m thankful to have this opportunity, but he’s had his run. Now it’s time for me to have mine. This fight is going to change my life.” A 10-round clash between once-beaten lightweight Ivan Redkach (19-1-1, 15 KOs) and streaking Tevin Farmer (24-1-1, 5 KOs), a winner of 14 straight, will open the Sho Extreme telecast. Later that night on “regular” Showtime, Leo Santa Cruz defends his WBA featherweight championship vs. Carl Frampton, two-division former champ Mikey Garcia returns against former champ Elio Rojas, and Tony Harrison meets Sergey Rabchenko in an IBF 154-pound eliminator. Ward vs. Brand is official Roc Nation Sports officially announced today that two-time world champion Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) will return to the ring on Saturday, August 6 when he takes on Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) at Oracle Arena in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, California. The event will be televised live on HBO. Ward and Brand were slated to face each other last November on the pay-per-view undercard of Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez, but a leg injury forced Ward to withdraw from participation in the event. Andre Ward: “We can get it on, right now. August 6th, I will be ready, so come out to Oracle Arena or tune in live on HBO. Don’t miss it.” Alexander Brand: “It will be a great honor to face Andre Ward on August 6 and better yet in his own backyard. Fighting somebody with such an illustrious career, facing a guy that perhaps hasn’t lost a round in his entire life, is even more thrilling. We were set to face each other last November, but he was forced to pull out of the fight with an injury. Now the time has come to fight him and I can’t wait to derail his future plans. I’ll work hard to spoil them.” Tickets priced at $300, $120, $90, $60 and $30, not including applicable service charges and taxes, go on sale TODAY and will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, online at Ticketmaster.com and charge by phone at (800) 745-3000. Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz returns Aug 6 on UniMas Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz will return to action on the Solo Boxeo UniMás card that will take place on Saturday, August 6, at the Grand Ballroom of the Casino del Sol Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Diaz (41-4, 20 KOs), from Houston, Texas, who has been crowned on multiple occasions as lightweight king, hopes to continue his steady pace towards the opportunity to fight for a world title once again when he battles against Mexico’s Cesar Vazquez (27-3, 16 KOs) – a former world title challenger – in a ten-round bout. Ex-champ Mikey Garcia returns July 30 Former two-division world champion Mikey Garcia (34-0, 28 KOs) will finally return to the ring against Elio Rojas (24-2, 14 KOs) on July 30 in a fight televised by Showtime from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The bout will be the co-feature for the WBA featherweight title fight between Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton. This will be the 28-year-old Garcia’s first fight in two-and-a-half years. Garcia-Rojas will be a super lightweight contest. Welterweight Unification Vargas vs Brook possibly pushed back to October Promoter Eddie Hearn Of Matchroom Sports is looking to move the unification match between IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook and WBO Champion Jesse Vargas to October 2016. Reason is Middleweight Kingpin Gennady "GGG"Golovkin will possibly be fighting on Skysports PPV in September vs Chris Eubank Jr Boxing Quick Notes ESPN is reporting that Tyson Fury pulled out of his July 9 rematch with Wladimir Klitschko due to “excessive partying and not an ankle injury,” citing ‘sources.’ October 29 has been mentioned as a “working date” for the rescheduled fight. The WBO ratings were updated this week. Canelo Alvarez is now #1 at jr middleweight. Former Middleweight Champion Peter Quillin (32-1-1, 23 KO's) thinking about returning to Ring as Super Middleweight. Announcement coming soon on career Jr Middleweight James Kirkland (32-2, 28 KO's) reunites with Old Trainer Ann Wolfe in comeback bout possibly in September. Trying to get out of his contract with 50cent Happy 50th Birthday to Mike Tyson Hard to believe that legendary heavyweight world champion “Iron” Mike Tyson has hit the big 5-0.