UK Boxing
Nick Ball vs. Brandon Figueroa – results and post-fight report
Brandon Figueroa surprisingly became the recent WBA featherweight champion when he defeated Nick Ball in the final round of their fight when he was out of cards.
Ball (23-1-1, KO13) defended his belt for the fourth time and it was his last points match against Sam Goodman last August in Riyad, while former world champion Figueroa (27-2-1, KO20) bounced back on points over Joet Gonzalez after losing his WBC crown to Stephen Fulton.
Ball hit a challenging uppercut in the first quarter and found the back of the net on the same shot early in the second. Figueroa responded, but the champion put a lot of pressure on him.
Figueroa boxed better but Ball’s shots carried much more weighthis left hand landed almost constantly, but the challenger had his best round in the fourth, working Ball’s body to good effect.
Ball’s nose was covered in blood in the fifth set, but he didn’t hesitate, instead continuing to land cleaner punches and his counters proved too arduous for Figueroa to overcome.
He fought bravely but his punches were inconsistent, although a triple jab landed in the eighth round and he backed it up with a solid ninth strike where he pushed Ball away and worked the host’s body.
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After serving and taking the tenth position, Ball regained control and the power punches returned to the fore, but just when it seemed that he could easily keep the title on the cards, Figueroa had a huge surprise in store: he dropped Ball with a left hand in the final frame.
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The ball survived the count but then fell through the ropes under weighty fire and the contents were sensationally discarded.
Andrew Cain vs. Alejandro Gonzalez
Andrew Cain (15-1, KO13) pulled victory from the jaws of defeat and stopped Alejandro Gonzalez (19-7-3, KO11) in the ninth round of a bantamweight fight that was a WBC title eliminator.
Cain looked down and down in the eighth after being dropped twice due to body shots, but bravely survived and rallied twice in the round to beat Gonzalez, with the guy opting not to continue with a severely damaged eye.
Undercard remaining
Super flyweight Jack Turner (14-0, KO13) remained undefeated, forcing Juan Carlos Martinez Urbina (10-4-1, KO4) to retire after three rounds.
Urbina was already losing in the first round, and in the third round it won a point for holding.
In an eight-round fight, Brad Strand (14-2, KO5) was too good for Ruben Lezama Gonzalez (12-7, KO11) as he forced the guy to throw in the towel in the third round of their super bantamweight fight.
Stephen Clarke (9-0, KO2) remained undefeated by defeating Lewis Howells (3-6, KO0) in the final middleweight bout.
With six rounds on the card, it was a disheartening defeat for the undefeated prospect.
Paddy Lacey (12-1, KO2) was defeated by one point in his middleweight fight against Jack Swallow (4-3-1, KO1), who won 58-57.
Lucas Szeto-Biswana (5-0, KO2) stopped Liam McMillan (2-5, KO0) three times en route to a last-round welterweight victory, and William Birchall (4-0, KO4) stopped Caine Singh (4-9-2, KO0) in the first match of their super featherweight bout.
Super bantamweight prospect Hassan Ishaq (3-0, KO3) defeated Leonardo Baez (5-17, KO0).
In a four-round fight, Luke Turner (2-0, KO1) scored a final-round victory over middleweight Jensen Irving (5-35-2, KO0), and super featherweight debutant Sam Norris (1-0, KO0) won all four rounds against Jack England (1-14-1, KO0).
The post Nick Ball vs. Brandon Figueroa – results and post-fight report appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
Dillian Whyte is eager to fight Joseph Parker again.
In 2018, Whyte and Parker played 12 invigorating rounds, with both hitting the canvas.
Whyte won his dramatic heavyweight fight by unanimous decision at the O2 Arena.
‘The Body Snatcher’ is now planning a rematch with the Recent Zealander, who is looking to clear his name after testing positive for cocaine following his October defeat to Fabio Wardley.
“There are a lot of good fights and Joseph Parker is one of them,” the 38-year-old said Ring Magazine.
“I would love to fight Joseph Parker, I think it’s a really good fight.
“He has to come back, he has to be cleared or whatever. I don’t know the situation.
“So in the meantime I have to stay busy and fight my way back, so let’s see.
“I feel like I still have a little bit to give, so let’s see what we can do to finish the season on a high.
“I’m training now and I want to come back in May or June.
“Now it’s just a matter of training and seeing what comes out on this kind of date.”
The former world title challenger from Brixton has not fought since a crushing first-round knockout defeat to rising contender Moses Itauma last August in Riyad.
Former world champion Parker won six times on spin before being stopped in the 11th round against Wardley, losing the WBO interim title and a shot at unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.
The 34-year-old says he is going through this process after failing the test and hopes it will be resolved soon.
“Let’s hope so [I’m back] soon,” Parker said Professional boxing fans.
“I’m just going through the process and practicing patience.
“We just have to be patient and learn from what they say happened.
“I know what happened and I handed over everything, so let’s see.”
The post Dillian Whyte Eyes Joseph Parker Rematch appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
Tony Yoka has broken his silence on Lawrence Okolie’s failed test that canceled their scheduled heavyweight fight.
On Saturday in Paris, Yoka was scheduled to face Okolie in a fierce heavyweight fight.
But on Tuesday, the Briton failed a VADA test, reportedly for GHRP 2 and its metabolite M8, a synthetic substance that stimulates the body to release human growth hormone.
Promoter Frank Warren tried to find a slow replacement, but later canceled the entire show.
Yoka (33) admits that he was bitterly disappointed with the situation.
“I was disappointed because I wanted to fight,” said the 33-year-old talkSPORT.
“Of course I was ready.
“It’s not like it happened a few months before, it was three, four days before the fight.
“It was a great opportunity.
“It would have put me in a really good position, so it really worried me.
“What was more disappointing to me was that they just canceled the entire show, but I understand it’s a business.”
The Frenchman says he won’t wait too long and has been told he will either fight on the card Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois May 9 in Manchester or on the bill Dave Allen vs Filip Hrgovic on May 16 in Doncaster.
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Okolie, the WBC’s number one contender for Oleksandr Usyk’s title, promised in a statement to clear his name.
“Before anyone starts imagining the worst, after last year’s bicep injury, I suffered an elbow injury on the same shoulder during this camp.
“I underwent treatment and now we are here.
“I hope common sense will prevail.
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“I will of course cooperate fully with all relevant authorities and I am confident that any investigation will clear my name.
“I will not be making any further comments at this time.
“Thank you for all your support and see you soon.”
The post “I Was Nervous” – Tony Yoka’s Reaction to Lawrence Okolie’s Failed Test appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
David Benavidez is already looking to the future ahead of next week’s showdown with Zurdo Ramirez.
Benavidez challenges Zurdo for his unified WBO and WBA cruiserweight world titles next Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, live on DAZN pay-per-view.
“The Mexican Monster” is moving up from lightweight heavyweight, where he holds the WBC crown, in a bid to become a three-division world champion.
An undisputed 175-pound title fight with Dmitry Bivol has so far eluded the undefeated 29-year-old, but he insists he will return to the weight class after the Ramirez fight in an attempt to lure Bivol to fight him.
“My plan wasn’t just to abandon the lightweight heavyweight division,” Benavidez said Ariel Helwani show.
“My plan was this [to] come up, win two titles, come back and make this fight with me and Bivol even bigger.
“My dream is to become unified champion.
“It would be wise for me to go back downstairs.”
Bivol, the holder of the remaining IBF, WBA and WBO belts, will defend his IBF title against mandatory challenger Michael Eifert on May 30 in Russia.
The 35-year-old won the undisputed crown, among others revenge victory over Artur Beterbiev in his last appearance last February.
The Russian gave up the WBC belt, which Benavidez currently holds, in pursuit of a third meeting with Beterbiev, which ultimately did not take place.
Benavidez, who stopped Anthony Yarde in Riyad in November, is also hoping to fight former undisputed lightweight heavyweight champion Beterbiev, who hasn’t fought since his only professional loss to Bivol.
“After this fight [against Bivol] when I win the titles,” he added.
“I’m going to fight Beterbiev.
“I’m probably most excited about Beterbiev.
“These are two monsters heading on a collision course.
“Beterbiev was a bogeyman for a long, long, long time.
“Being the monster I am, I have to go in there and get rid of the bogeyman.”
The post David Benavidez Eyeing Two Names After Zurdo Ramirez appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
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