BOXING BOXING ARTICLES

Undefeated Terence Crawford moves up a weight class to challenge Israil Madrimov for the WBA junior middleweight belt. Also on the line in this matchup is the WBO interim title. A former undisputed champion in two different weight classes, Crawford enters as a big -700 favorite for the fight scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 3 in Los Angeles. Crawford is coming off a dominant win over Errol Spence last July for the undisputed welterweight championship running his professional record to 40-0. With fewer years and pro fights to his credit, Madrimov was fast-tracked to his current title. He claimed the belt earlier this year in March with a fifth-round TKO of Magomed Kurbanov. Madrimov has just 11 professional bouts on his resume but he had a highly-decorated amateur career with over 100 fights. The age difference could play a role with Madrimov nearly eight years younger. Despite his title Madrimov is listed as a heavy underdog on the early boxing betting lines at +450. ... 

Veteran wannabe heavyweight contenders square off when Joe Joyce and Derek Chisora enter the ring for a 12-round bout in London on Saturday, July 27. With both fighters at an advanced age this bout more than likely represents one last chance for the winner to make a push for world championship. Within the division there really is no place for the loser to go. Making things more interesting is that both fighters are Londoners and discussions for an encounter have allegedly been taking place for a... 

It’s not the fight we wanted when Jake Paul was originally going to take on former heavyweight champion and nearly 60-year-old Mike Tyson. That matchup is intriguing in its own right. With Tyson forced out due to a medical condition and the bout rescheduled for later in the year, Paul continues his pursuit of a world championship by taking on former MMA fighter and bare knuckle brawler Mike Perry in an 8-round bout set for Saturday, July 20 in Tampa, Fla. While not a traditional boxer Perry does have some experience in the ring with a few bouts prior to his MMA career. He’s been a Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) performer since 2021 when his UFC contract expired posting a 5-0 record as a middleweight in BKFC. Despite being a +240 underdog on the early boxing betting line, Perry is the type of fighter that can give Paul problems with his relentless style. However, Paul’s early boxing career was littered with combat sport veterans and he flawlessly handled them, which is why he’s a -300 favorite. ... 

Undefeated Jaron Ennis will defend his IBF welterweight title against challenger David Avanesyan as a heavy favorite in a scheduled 12-round bout set for Saturday, July 13 in Philadelphia. Ennis was originally set to take on mandatory challenger Cody Crowley, but he withdrew a few weeks ago after he wasn’t cleared by medical personnel following eye surgery in November. With no defeats in 31 professional fights, oddsmakers like the chances of the champ successfully defending posting early odds on... 

Unified middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly puts his WBO and IBF titles on the line against undefeated challenger Andrei Mikhailovich in a scheduled 12-round fight set for Saturday, July 13 in Las Vegas. This will be the first defense of the unified titles for Alimkhanuly after he won the IBF crown with a sixth round TKO of previously unbeaten Vincenzo Gualtieri last October. Another title fight with outrageous odds has the champ as a -1500 favorite on the early boxing betting line.With si... 

Undefeated WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson defends his title as a massive favorite against little known challenger Artem Harutyunyan in a 12-round bout scheduled for Saturday, July 6 in New Jersey. One of the most talented boxers in any weight class, Stevenson is coming off a unanimous decision win over Edwin De Los Santos last November to claim the vacant lightweight title. Though he won the fight many were turned off by Stevenson’s performance with little action for 12 rounds. Steven... 

WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez puts his belt on the line as a massive favorite against challenger Steve Claggett in a scheduled 12-round bout on Saturday, June 29 in Miami. One of the most exhilarating boxers in the sport, Lopez is a world champion in two different weight classes and ranked as the world’s best active junior welterweight by several outlets. After winning his first 10 professional fights, eight of them by stoppage, Lopez had a statement win in 2018 knocking out vet... 

Undefeated David Benavidez takes on Oleksandr Gvozdyk in a matchup for the interim WBC light heavyweight title in a scheduled 12-round bout on Saturday, June 15 in Las Vegas. It’s a full night of boxing action with the fight the co-main event along with the WBA lightweight title fight between champion Gervonta Davis and Frank Martin. A two-time WBC super middleweight champion, Benavidez debuts at 175 pounds looking to continue his dominant career. He has yet to lose in 28 professional fights with 24 wins coming via stoppage. As a result Benavidez is a heavy +450 favorite on the early boxing betting line. One thing going for Benavidez is that he’s fought at 175 pounds for a few years and he’s been good winning 20 of his 21 fights, including a light heavyweight title scrap with Adonis Stevenson in 2018. However, Gvozdyk was hospitalized after a TKO loss to Artur Beterbiev in 2019 subsequently retiring from the sport. Over three years after his lone setback, Gvozdyk returned to the ring easily dispatching three club-level opponents. A win puts Gvozdyk on a path for a potential rematch with Beterbiev, but oddsmakers aren’t giving much of a chance positioning him as a +450 underdog. ... 

Undefeated WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis puts his belt on the line against undefeated challenger Frank Davis in a scheduled 12-round fight on Saturday, June 15 in Las Vegas. Tank has rolled through opponents with reckless abandon stopping 27 of 29 via KO. He enters the ring for the first time in over year as a massive -750 favorite on the early boxing betting lines. A three class champ, Davis also held the IBF and WBA super featherweight titles and the WBA super lightweight belt. The first opponent after a long layoff is typically the hardest, which means Martin has something working in his favor. Despite that I don’t think the challenger is going to get much play going against one of if not the hottest property in boxing. Martin boasts a stellar undefeated record in 18 professional fights, but his list of opponents is a bit shaky. He outpointed Artem Harutyunyan in his last fight in July 2023 in what was likely his most difficult opponent to date. At +479 there is a healthy payout for what would be a major upset in the sport. ... 

A pair of former heavyweight champions square off looking to get back to their winning ways with a potential shot at another title when Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang go toe-to-toe in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 1. After going unbeaten in his first 43 professional fights with 42 wins and a draw, former WBC champ Wilder has dropped three of his last four fights, two of them to Tyson Fury when Wilder surrendered the belt in 2020 and was floored in the rematch in 2021. Wilder opened as a +150 u... 

The much-anticipated rematch between junior welterweights Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall looks like it will finally take place on Saturday, May 25, from Leeds, England. The two first entered the ring in February 2022 when Taylor retained his undisputed junior welterweight championship in highly controversial split decision victory. The rematch was set for the following February, but a scheduling conflict forced a one-month delay. Then last Mach Taylor suffered a foot injury that put the rematch ... 

A pair of undefeated heavyweights tangle for the undisputed championship of the world when WBC champ Tyson Fury battles WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belt holder Oleksandr Usyk in a 12-round fight scheduled for Saturday, May 18 in Saudi Arabia. The much-anticipated bout has been in the works for some time with an agreement in place last September. The fight was originally scheduled for late December 2023 and delayed to February. Another postponement moved the date another few months. Barring a draw, which is a betting option, the first undisputed heavyweight champ since Lennox Lewis in 2000 will be crowned. Both fighters may have been looking forward to this match since they had scares in their most recent outing. In a non-title fight Fury was knocked down by former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who was making his professional debut in the ring. Fury recovered to win a 10-round split decision. Usyk was dropped by a controversial low blow from Daniel Dubois last August and went on to a ninth round stoppage win. Unlike some previous title fights, the odds are close with both boxers boasting negative odds on the opening boxing betting line. ... 

Boxing greats Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. will tangle for the vacant IBF lightweight title in a 12-round bout scheduled for May 11 in Perth, Australia. A former world champion in three weight classes, including a unified lightweight titlist, Lomachenko opened as a huge -600 favorite on the opening boxing betting line. Most recently Lomachenko lost a close unanimous decision to undisputed lightweight champ Devin Haney last May when he was an underdog for the first time in his caree... 

Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez puts his belts on the line against undefeated challenger Jaime Munguia in a scheduled 12-round bout on Saturday, May 4 in Las Vegas. One of the best pound-for-pound fighters ever, Alvarez has held multiple world championships in four different weight classes. He’s also the only boxer to become undisputed super middleweight champion. Alvarez opened as a big -525 favorite on the boxing betting line only giving his challenger more motivation.Cem... 

Undefeated Devin Haney puts his WBC super lightweight belt on the line against one-loss challenger Ryan Garcia in a scheduled 12-round bout on Saturday, April 20 in Brooklyn, NY. Each of Haney’s last 13 fights has been for some sort of title. Most recently he moved up a weight class vacating his unified lightweight championship to tangle with Regis Prograis for the strap. In a dominant unanimous decision, Haney added another belt becoming a two-division world champion at just 25 years old.Althou... 

In what essentially amounts to a title elimination fight, junior lightweights Jordan Gill and Zelfa Barrett square off on Saturday, April 13 in England. Betting odds suggest a close bout with Barrett listed as the -172 favorite. The Brown Flash is looking to get back in the title picture after suffering a TKO loss to Shavkat Rakhimov for the IBF belt in November 2022. Since then Barrett has defeated a pair of worthy opponents and is looking for a shot at strap holder Joe Cordina.Gill has his sig... 

Undefeated super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Gustavo Daniel Lemos square off in an IBF title eliminator bout scheduled for April 6 in Las Vegas. Though both fighters have won every fight in their professional careers and Lemos has 12 more victories on his resume, oddsmakers installed Hitchins as a big -600 favorite on the opening betting line. Hitchins looks to ride the momentum of an impressive win over former WBC light welterweight challenger Jose Zepeda last September. He’s a few years older and has more fights on his professional resume, but Lemos should be well rested after not fighting for two years. That hiatus is part of the reason why Lemos is a +425 underdog on the opening line. He scored a fifth round TKO of former IBF featherweight champ Lee Selby in March 2022 in his last fight. Lemos has been a regional champion for years as both a lightweight and super lightweight. He stepped up in class to battle Selby facing an opponent on the downslope of his career who retired from boxing a month after Lemos’ victory. ... 

Undefeated Dalton Smith opened as a strong -280 favorite in his 12-round super lightweight fight against Jose Zepeda, scheduled for March 23 in Sheffield, England. Following an illustrious amateur career, Smith turned pro in 2019 rising through the ranks to claim the English super lightweight title with a TKO of Lee Appleyard in just his eighth professional bout. He’s been the British super lightweight belt holder since August 2022 successfully defending his title four times. This is an opportunity for Smith to enter the main stream of the 140-pound class. A veteran of 43 career professional fights we can refer to Zepeda as a journeyman. He fought for the WBO lightweight title in 2015 and twice for the WBC light welterweight title in 2019 and 2022 losing all three bouts. Zepeda has lost two of his last three fights, most recently to unbeaten Richardson Hitchins by unanimous decision last September. Zepeda hit the boxing betting board as a +214 underdog. ... 

Undefeated William Zepeda tangles with former IBO champion Maxi Hughes in a 12-round IBF and WBA lightweight title eliminator bout scheduled for Saturday, March 16 in Las Vegas. With 25 of his 29 wins by knockout, Zepeda has emerged as a massive -900 favorite on the opening betting line. In his last four fights Zepeda has taken out former featherweight champs Rene Alvarado and Joseph Diaz and most recently scored a TKO against former world title contender Mercito Gesta last September.Coming off ... 

Former MMA champ Francis Ngannou faces two-time former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in a non-title boxing match scheduled for March 8 in Saudi Arabia. Ngannou has been one of the most intriguing stories in the world of combat sports holding a heavyweight title in the UFC before signing with the PFL, which allowed him the option to box. Ngannou did just that and makes his second professional appearance inside a boxing ring after stunning the boxing world with a split decision loss ... 

Luis Alberto Lopez puts his IBF featherweight belt on the line as a massive favorite against challenger Reiya Abe in a 12-round bout scheduled for Saturday, March 2 in New York. A regional champ in his early days, Lopez made the most of his first title fight scoring a majority decision over Josh Warrington at the end of 2022 to claim the IBF strap. He has successfully defended his title twice since and his handlers are looking at a potential unification bout should the -800 favorite do what he’s... 

WBC bantamweight champ Alexandro Santiago puts his belt on the line as an extreme underdog against challenger Junto Nakatani on Saturday, February 24 in Tokyo, Japan. It’s extremely rare to see a titleholder as a +549 underdog, but Nakatani isn’t your typical opponent. After his streak of 20 consecutive fights without a loss ended in 2021, Santiago responded with three straight wins earning a shot at the vacant WBC belt, which he won by outpointing Nonito Dontaire in his last outing.Nakatani isn... 

WBC junior lightweight champion O’Shaquie Foster puts his belt on the line against challenger Abraham Nova on February 16 at Madison Square Garden. In his first title defense, Foster was on the ropes against Eduardo Hernandez behind on every scorecard until a furious final two rounds earned him a stoppage in the 12th and final round. For Foster this will be his third fight in the span of 12 months as he looks to take advantage of the momentum he earned by claiming the belt in a decision over Rey Vargas last February. Foster opened as a massive -1000 favorite on the early line. The list of opponents isn’t as glossy for Nova, but he did what he had to after moving up a weight class. Following his only professional loss, Nova made the move to 130 outclassing veteran tough guy Adam Lopez before abusing Jonatan Romero with a third-round KO. Those wins aren’t considered groundbreaking and “Super” Nova makes a significant leap in stature facing Foster. As such, Nova is a massive +585 underdog on the early boxing line. ... 

Teofimo Lopez Jr. puts his WBO and Ring Magazine junior welterweight titles on the line against challenger Jamaine Ortiz on Thursday, February 8 in Las Vegas. Looking to take advantage of the Super Bowl hype in the Nevada desert oasis, the contest pits two boxers looking to make more of an impact in the division after recently suffering their first professional defeat. Though he won his last three fights, Lopez still has the sting of a setback to George Kambosos hanging over him. Lopez was upset... 

Undefeated welterweights Conor Benn and Peter Dobson square off in Las Vegas on February 3 with each fighter looking to move up the ranks. While both have the same number of losses on their resume, the road to this matchup has been quite different. Benn was on the fast track to the top of the division winning the WBA continental welterweight title in 2018 with eight successful defenses before his career was put on hold due to a suspension. With a more polished game and wins over some prominent b...