Jan 17, 2023 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 Richard Riakporhe might not be a name you are familiar with, but the cruiserweight contender insists this will be his breakout year. As long

2:43 PM ET The third time is apparently the charm for Jake Paul and Tommy Fury. Paul, the YouTube-star-turned-prize-fighter, and Fury have agreed to fight Feb. 25 in Saudi Arabia, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger on Tuesday. This is the third time the two have booked a fight with one another, yet have still

11:37 PM ET It was the first major women’s fight of 2023 — and by the end of the year, it might be remembered as one of the best, too. Jessica Nery Plata, who entered the fight as the WBA junior flyweight champion, left the ring as the unified champion after beating WBC titleholder Kim

7:44 AM ET Timothy Bradley Jr. The 10-round heavyweight showdown Saturday night between Efe Ajagba and Stephan Shaw seems like a fight of little importance between the two. In actuality, it’s not as insignificant as it may seem. The winner will join the new era of heavyweight contenders brewing in the shadows. It’s a collection

6:03 AM ET Associated Press TOKYO — Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue is giving up his four bantamweight belts and plans to fight as a super bantamweight. The undefeated Inoue holds the title belts for the WBA, WBO, IBF and WBA. He made the announcement at a news conference in Yokohama, Japan, on Friday. “The real

5:56 AM ET Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Gerrie Coetzee, a former South African boxer and WBA heavyweight champion who defied some of his country’s racist laws during the height of apartheid in the 1970s and 1980s and won popularity with Nelson Mandela and both Black and white fans, has died. He was

1:32 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Shakur Stevenson and Shuichiro Yoshino are finalizing a deal for an April 8 fight on ESPN that is expected to determine a new mandatory challenger for the WBC lightweight title, sources told ESPN. No site has been finalized yet. Stevenson, ESPN’s No. 10 pound-for-pound boxer, was stripped of his two

7:50 AM ET With global sport back to pre-pandemic heights, and sporting bodies playing catch-up with their World Cups, 2023 looks set to be one of the busiest in recent memory for African nations. South Africa’s women’s national soccer team will look to complement their first ever Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) triumph in

5:15 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Errol Spence Jr.’s next fight won’t come against Terence Crawford, and it won’t even take place for Spence’s three welterweight titles. Instead, Spence will meet Keith Thurman in a junior middleweight bout that’s expected to take place in April, sources told ESPN. A matchup between Spence and Thurman was highly

5:40 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Jose Ramirez and Richard Commey have agreed to a deal for a March 25 fight in Fresno, California, sources told ESPN. The Top Rank Boxing on ESPN main event will take place at the Save Mart Center, which is approximately 66 miles from Ramirez’s hometown of Avenal, where he’s headlined