Boxing

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

8:00 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show British Olympic bronze medalist Frazer Clarke will make his professional debut on the Amir Khan-Kell Brook undercard at Manchester Arena, England, on Feb. 19.

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

9:51 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Boxing’s welterweight division has arguably become the most competitive weight class, and Conor Benn, another exciting contender, wants to take on the world’s best

2:24 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez are set to battle one more time. The future Hall of Famers have signed contracts for a unified 115-pound championship fight on March 5 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, multiple sources told ESPN. Estrada-Gonzalez 3 will headline a Matchroom Boxing on DAZN

4:52 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Joe Smith Jr. will defend his light heavyweight title on Jan. 15 after all as unheralded fighter Steven Geffrard signed Friday to replace Callum Johnson on eight days’ notice. Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and was forced to withdraw from the ESPN main event in Verona, New York.

1:00 PM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show WBA-IBF-WBO world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Anthony Joshua is likely to take place in the United Kingdom in April, according to Matchroom

7:46 AM ET Michael Rothstein Close ESPN Staff Writer Previously covered University of Michigan for ESPN.com and AnnArbor.com Also covered Notre Dame for Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Ben Baby Close ESPN Staff Writer ESPN Staff Writer Previously a college football writer for The Dallas Morning News University of North Texas graduate Predicting what could happen

4:36 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN For the third time in the last year, Joe Smith Jr., has had a fight impacted by COVID. Smith was set to defend his light heavyweight title against Callum Johnson on Jan. 15 in Verona, New York, but that fight won’t proceed after Johnson tested positive for COVID, multiple sources