By Chris Robinson
19-year old Abdullah Mason continues to stand out as one of the top prospects in all of boxing.
On Thursday evening, Mason improved to 11-0 (9 KO’s) with a blistering second round knockout over José Cardenas.
Continue readingTeofimo Lopez was in rare form on Saturday night (Photo: Mikey Williams / Top Rank)
By Chris Robinson
Teofimo Lopez upset Vasiliy Lomachenko by unanimous decision in a career-defining and star-making performance Saturday evening from the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, NV.
Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) won by margins of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112 after 12 rounds of calculated action. And with the commanding victory, the 23-year old now holds the IBF/WBA/WBO titles at 135 pounds.
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Giovanni Santillan faces fromer champion Antonio DeMarco on Tuesday night (Photo: Thompson Boxing)
By Chris Robinson
The sport of boxing has returned with live action, and for welterweight prospect Giovanni Santillan, Tuesday night marks by far the biggest test of his young career.
The 28-year old Santillan (25-0, 15 KO’s), who is co-promoted by Thompson Boxing and Top Rank, will face former world champion Antonio DeMarco (33-8-1, 24 KOs), on ESPN in a co-feature attraction. The main event will see bantamweight contender Joshua Greer Jr. (22-1-1, 12 KOs) face Mike Plania (23-1, 12 KOs), with the broadcast starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.
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Shakur Stevenson returned with a victory on Tuesday night (Photo: Mikey Williams – Top Rank)
Boxing is back, and Shakur Stevenson put on a show. The WBO featherweight world champion, who was making his super featherweight debut, knocked out Puerto Rican contender Felix “La Sombra” Caraballo in the sixth round of a scheduled 10-rounder at MGM Grand Conference Center—Grand Ballroom in Las Vegas.
Stevenson showcased his talents in the first major boxing card in the United States since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
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Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury face off on Saturday night
By Chris Robinson
On Saturday night, February 22, WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and former lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will again meet inside of the squared circle.
Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KO’s) and Fury (29-0-1, 20 KO’s) will square off inside of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, in a joint pay per view being distributed by FOX and ESPN. It’s perhaps the biggest fight of the year and one of the biggest heavyweight fights in years.
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Jesse Hart and Joe Smith (Photo: Mikey Williams – Top Rank)
By Chris Robinson
On Thursday afternoon, former title challengers Jesse Hart and Joe Smith Jr. faced off two days before their highly anticipated, 10-round light heavyweight showdown. Hart (26-2, 21 KO’s) and Smith (24-3, 20 KO’s) will meet inside of the Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in Atlantic City, with the fight to be carried by ESPN.
One of the subplots heading into the contest will be Hart seeking revenge, as Smith scored a stoppage victory over the Philadelphia fighter’s mentor, former two-division world champion Bernard Hopkins in December 2016.
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Josh Taylor has officially signed with Top Rank (Photo: World Boxing Super Series)
By Chris Robinson
Big signing in the boxing world today, as it has been announced that unified junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor has officially aligned his career with Top Rank.
Taylor (16-0, 12 KO’s) holds the IBF and WBA junior welterweight titles and is regarded as perhaps the best fighter at 140 pounds. Nicknamed “The Tartan Tornado”, Taylor is coming off of an excellent victory over former champion Regis Prograis this past October.
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Teofimo Lopez returns July 19 (Photo: Mikey Williams – Top Rank)
Press Release
Teofimo Lopez is one win away from a shot at fulfilling his world title destiny. Standing in his way is fellow unbeaten Masayoshi Nakatani, who is intent on spoiling his plans.
Lopez and Nakatani will lock horns in a 12-round IBF lightweight world title eliminator Friday, July 19 at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The Lopez-Nakatani winner will be the mandatory challenger for the victor of the June 28 ESPN-televised bout between IBF champion Richard Commey and Ray Beltran.
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Jamel Herring, pictured with WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford, defeated Masayuki Ito on Saturday night (Photo: Mikey Williams – Top Rank)
By Chris Robinson
Former U.S. Olympian and Marine Corps veteran Jamel Herring pulled off a tremendous upset last night in defeating former champion Masayuki Ito over 12 rounds. The victory took place in front of a sold-out crowd (2,912 spectators) at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, FL, with ESPN televising.
“Semper Fi” Herring is now the WBO junior lightweight champ, while “The Judge” Ito will have to cope with his second career defeat. Herring (20-2, 10 KOs) prevailed by scores of 116-112 and 118-110 twice, while also fulfilling his dream on Memorial Day weekend in front of a host of active and reserve U.S. Marines.
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Artur Beterbiev scored his 14th knockout on Saturday (Photo: Mikey Williams – Top Rank)
By Chris Robinson
On Saturday night, we witnessed the return of IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, who stopped hard-hitting contender Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic in the fifth round in front of 10,105 spectators at Stockton Arena. With the victory, Beterbiev (14-0, 14 KO’s) defended his title for a second time and is now eyeing unification matches.
“I worked very hard for this fight,” Beterbiev stated. “I went 100 percent in the gym. Maybe one day I’ll show my boxing skills. I want unification fights. It doesn’t matter who it is. I am happy to be working with Top Rank and ESPN.”
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Terence Crawford faces Amir Khan on Saturday night (Photo: Mikey Williams – Top Rank)
By Chris Robinson
We are inching closer to boxing’s next significant showdown, as WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford will face off with former world champion Amir Khan on Saturday night from Madison Square Garden in New York. While Crawford (34-0, 25 KO’s) is understandably a huge favorite heading into the fight, Khan (33-4, 20 KO’s) does have enough experience, speed, and skills to at least make the ESPN pay per view matchup interesting.
During Wednesday’s final press conference, Crawford revealed that this is far from just an ordinary showcase for him.
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Vasyl Lomachenko faces Anthony Crolla this weekend (Photo: Mikey Williams – Top Rank)
By Chris Robinson
Tomorrow night, from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, WBA/WBO lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko will defend his titles against former champion Anthony Crolla in a bout that will be aired on the ESPN + streaming app.
This isn’t the fight that fans, nor Top Rank, Lomachenko’s promoter, preferred. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum was eyeing IBF champion Richard Commey for this date, but the rugged Ghanaian injured his right hand in his title-winning second round knockout over Isa Chaniev on February 2, eliminating him as an option.
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Jesse Hart will face Gilberto Ramirez in a rematch this Saturday night (Photo: Mikey Williams – Top Rank)
By Chris Robinson
This Friday night, inside of the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX, once-beaten supermiddleweight contender Jesse “Hollywood” Hart will look for revenge vs. the division’s WBO champion, Gilberto “Zuro” Ramirez.
In September of last year, Ramirez (38-0, 25 KO’s) dropped Hart in the first round and went on to win a unanimous decision despite the Philadelphia fighter storming back to make things competitive. Hart knows he is likely going to need a career-defining performance to turn the tables and that’s what he is banking on.
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Gilberto Ramirez Faces Jesse Hart on Saturday night in a rematch (Photo: Mikey Williams)
By Chris Robinson
This coming Friday night, Dec. 14, from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX, WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez will face off with contender Jesse “Hollywood” Hart (25-1, 21 KO’s) on ESPN+. The fight is a rematch of their Sep. 2017 battle in which Ramirez won via unanimous decision.
Ramirez (38-0, 25 KOs) is looking for a fifth successful defense of his title and is promising a knockout vs. his rival.
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Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao running in Southern California (Photo: Chris Farina – Top Rank)
By Chris Robinson
Top Rank photographer Chris Farina captures Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KO’s) in training ahead of his May 2 pay per view clash vs. Floyd Mayweather (47-0, 26 KO’s).
Pacquiao was captured going on a morning run and was spotted by a separate generation of fans, as seen in the photo above.
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Chris Robinson catches up with former world champion and Two-time Trainer of the Year Robert Garcia inside of his gym in Oxnard, CA, as he speaks on the return of former multi-division champion Nonito Donaire, who faces off with Vic Darchinyan on HBO on Saturday.
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Post-fight coverage from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada as two-time gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko (1-0) speaks after his professional debut while eyeing a January clash with WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido
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Chris Robinson was on hand inside of the Venetian in Las Vegas as Chinese gold medalist Zhou Shiming made his grand arrival to the city ahead of his promotional debut with Top Rank. Shiming was greeted by his trainers Freddie Roach and Miguel Diaz as well as Top Rank CEO Bob Arum
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By Chris Robinson
On Saturday night, Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse will set foot inside of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for his 36th professional boxing match.
Having clamored for a fight with WBA/WBC junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia for quite some time, Matthysse (32-2, 30 KO’s) instead sets his sights on the capable Mike Dallas Jr. (19-2-1, 8 KO’s) in a Showtime-televised attraction while holding on to the hope that bigger fights still await him.