5:01 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Teofimo Lopez is preparing to mount a comeback. Top Rank is exploring the possibility of a 140-pound bout between Lopez and Arnold Barboza Jr. in the spring, sources told ESPN. Lopez, who defeated Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020 to win the undisputed 135-pound championship, was upset by George Kambosos Jr. in
Boxing
2:05 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN For the first time since September 2019, Tyson Fury will fight someone other than Deontay Wilder. Fury’s co-promoter, Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, won the rights to the WBC heavyweight title fight between Fury and Dillian Whyte with a commitment of $41,025,000 at Friday’s purse bid. Fury, the champion, will earn
1:52 AM ET The main bout of ESPN Africa Boxing’s debut Fight Night on Thursday produced a nail-biting affair, with Botswana’s Steven ‘Small’ Bagwasi winning via split decision (96-94, 94-96, 96-95) against South Africa’s Koos ‘The Great Last Warrior’ Sibiya in a 10-round Junior Lightweight contest. The event at the EFC Training institute in Sandton,
7:45 AM ET Mike Coppinger Andres Ferrari Close ESPN Editor Andres Ferrari is ESPN.com’s boxing and MMA editor. Robson Conceicao dropped a controversial decision against Oscar Valdez in September, but he has another opportunity Saturday to prove he’s a player at 130 pounds. The winner of the fight between Conceicao and Xavier Martinez (10 p.m.
2:12 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte will meet in the ring after all. There was an agreement in principle for both Whyte and Anthony Joshua to step aside and forego planned bouts with Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, respectively, in exchange for millions of dollars, but the deal fell apart after parties
11:30 AM ET The biggest fight in women’s boxing history is officially on the schedule. The bout between undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor and seven-division world titlist Amanda Serrano — ESPN’s No. 1 and No. 2 in the pound-for-pound rankings — has been scheduled for April 30 to headline a card in one of the
5:50 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Every time Canelo Alvarez prepares to select his next opponent, the fate of boxers in multiple weight classes hangs in the balance. Just whom — and at which weight — Canelo fights next is still undecided, but sources told ESPN that Alvarez has received two lucrative offers that stand as
8:20 PM ET Canelo Alvarez is planning his return for May, and he reportedly has three options on the table. First, there’s a one-fight deal on the table from Premier Boxing Champions to defend his undisputed super middleweight championship against middleweight titleholder Jermall Charlo, who would move up in weight for the challenge. Second, there’s
3:44 AM ET The first ESPN Africa Boxing event of 2022, with seven bouts taking place at the EFC Training Institute in Sandton, South Africa debuts on Thursday Jan. 27. The main event will see South Africa’s Koos ‘The Great Last Warrior’ Sibiya taking on Botswana’s Steven ‘Small’ Bagwasi in a Junior Lightweight contest over
12:40 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez won’t face Juan Francisco Estrada in a hotly anticipated trilogy fight after all. Estrada withdrew from the bout after he became symptomatic with COVID, sources tell ESPN. In his place, 112-pound champion Julio Cesar Martinez has agreed to a deal for a 115-pound fight with Gonzalez on