Boxing

7:56 AM ET At long last, Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford are closer than ever to fighting for welterweight supremacy this fall, and unlike Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao, this matchup is materializing while both are still in the prime of their careers. All four 147-pound titles would be on the line in the

8:11 PM ET Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya has a couple of goals he wants to check off in his career. One of them apparently involves getting rid of the company he founded. “I’m sitting on a billion-dollar company,” De La Hoya told ESPN. “And I can’t wait to get rid of

10:49 AM ET Naoya Inoue can’t be denied any longer. In the wake of Canelo Alvarez’s loss to Dmitry Bivol, and now, Inoue’s second-round TKO of future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire on Tuesday in Saitama, Japan, there’s little doubt in my opinion that “Monster” is the now the pound-for-pound king. While the Japanese star

8:56 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Naoya Inoue is known as “The Monster” for good reason. When he met Nonito Donaire in November 2019, Inoue was genuinely tested for the first time in ESPN’s Fight of the Year. He defeated Donaire (42-7, 28 KOs) via unanimous-decision on that night, but 31 months later, Inoue made easy

7:48 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Jermall Charlo’s layoff will extend past one year. The 32-year-old was set to defend his middleweight title against Maciej Sulecki on June 18 in Houston, his hometown, but the fight has been postponed because of a back injury that Charlo suffered in training, Showtime announced. The fight will be rescheduled

9:08 AM ET Timothy Bradley Jr. When Naoya Inoue faced Nonito Donaire in the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight final in November 2019 to unify two world titles, nobody expected it to be such a back-and-forth battle. Inoue, the younger fighter and one rapidly ascending the pound-for-pound rankings, was coming off eight straight stoppage victories.

12:57 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Devin Haney can no longer be called an email champion, a titleholder or anything but the undisputed lightweight champion of the world. The 23-year-old traveled from Las Vegas to Melbourne, Australia, and delivered a dominant performance to collect all four 135-pound belts in a unanimous-decision victory over George Kambosos before

3:04 AM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — Ole, ole, ole! From the Against All Odds t-shirts to chants of “Hellas, Hellas, Hellas”, the Greek-Australian community had been out in force all week in Melbourne, but that only went up a notch — and then some — on Sunday, as 41,129 fans piled into Marvel Stadium to

12:16 AM ET Brianna Williams The lightweight championship boxing match between Devin Haney and George Kambosos had plenty of drama before the bout even began Sunday at Marvel Stadium in Docklands, Australia. Kambosos, who entered the fight holding the WBO, WBA, IBF and The Ring titles, initially failed to make weight, and Haney took advantage

1:47 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN “Ain’t gonna be no rematch.” “Don’t want one.” That exchange between Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa, whom Creed defeated in the first installment of the classic film series, seems apt after Devin Haney dominated George Kambosos Jr. over 12 rounds in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday night (Sunday afternoon in Australia)

7:26 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN George Kambosos Jr. puts his WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC “franchise” lightweight titles on the line against WBC champion Devin Haney on Saturday, in the main event of a Top Rank card at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia (9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ with prelims at 7:30 on ESPN+). Kambosos

1:42 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Stephen Fulton has his sights set on the undisputed 122-pound championship. He’ll continue his quest toward a meeting with fellow two-belt champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev with a fight vs. Danny Roman on Saturday In Minneapolis (9 p.m. ET, Showtime). A pair of victories for Fulton, who fights out of Philadelphia, could

3:15 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN At long last, Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford are on the verge of a summit meeting at 147 pounds. Spence, who holds three welterweight titles, and Crawford, owner of one 147-pound belt, are closing in on a deal for an October fight in Las Vegas for the undisputed welterweight

10:07 PM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — All the lightweight belts officially will be on the line when George Kambosos Jr. and Devin Haney meet at Marvel Stadium on Sunday (9 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN/ESPN+). But not before there was some late drama here Saturday morning. Kambosos initially came in .36 pounds over the 135-pound lightweight

7:37 AM ET Timothy Bradley Jr. Lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. will defend his world titles at home in Australia on Saturday against Devin Haney (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET with prelims on ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. ET). More than 50,000 fans are expected at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne to root for the local hero, who

7:51 AM ET Mark KriegelESPN MELBOURNE, Australia — Devin Haney isn’t merely presumed to be a transcendent talent. He’s a bright, sincere, impossibly likable (for a fighter, at least) 23-year-old who suddenly finds himself in hostile environs 8,000 miles from home. What’s more, he’s here without the father who not only raised him but painstakingly

11:35 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Teofimo Lopez is on the comeback trail. The former lightweight champion and Mexico’s Pedro Campa have agreed to a deal for a 140-pound bout on Aug. 13, sources told ESPN on Thursday. The Top Rank Boxing on ESPN main event will mark Lopez’s junior welterweight debut and will likely take

7:49 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN LAS VEGAS — Muhammad Ali. Floyd Mayweather. Manny Pacquiao. Likenesses of those fistic titans peered at Devin Haney from the walls of the Top Rank Gym, where the budding star prepared for the fight of his life just days before he set off for Melbourne, Australia. That’s where Haney will