UK Boxing
Owen Cooper vs. Constantin Ursu – results and post-fight report
Constantin Ursu became the fresh British welterweight champion after defeating Owen Cooper in an action-packed 12-round fight and also defending his Commonwealth title for a second time at Vaillant Live in Derby on Saturday.
Cooper (11-2, 4 KO) was coming off a 10-round victory over Chris Kongo in Nottingham last May, while Ursu (15-0, 6 KO) took the vacant Commonwealth crown last March and defended it in November, where he also won the vacant WBO European title after a wide-scoring victory over Ryan Amos at York Hall.
Ursu dominated the first four rounds, doing the cleaner work and overcoming exchanges, while Cooper was second by striking in the main round and struggled to gain a foothold in the competition.
The 25-year-old was able to time Cooper’s attacks and in the sixth round he sometimes boxed with his hands down as the fighter from Worcester desperately tried to reduce the advantage over his rival.
Cooper started fighting with more speed in the seventh round and it was his best round to date when he caught Ursu, but the Commonwealth champion refused to give up and returned to his skillful boxing in the eighth before the pair battled back and forth in round nine.
Ursu caught Cooper’s cracking right hand on the tenth throw and the 25-year-old was on his way to his feet, but heading into the final round it looked like he might have stopped the effort too delayed.
Ursu stuck to his box and impressively capped off his perfect performance with a dominant final round as the fight went down on the scorecards.
Two scores of 118-110 and the third 116-112 confirmed the great victory of the competitor from Plymouth.
McCormack dismisses Gardner
Former Olympian Luke McCormack (5-0, 3 KO) took part in the scheduled 10-round fight for the first time, and the welterweight fighter secured a comfortable points victory over the experienced Kane Gardner (18-6, 7 KO).
Two scores of 100-90 and a third of 99-92 reflected McCormack’s dominance.
Undercard remaining
Ben Fail (11-0, 6 KO) also climbed to the 10-round mark and in the seventh round he won against the tough Mason Cartwright (23-5-1, 9 KO) in a real super welterweight fight.
The only fighter to go eight rounds was in the flyweight division, where Roy Jones Jr. trained. Tony Curtis (13-1, 3 KO) defeated Jemsi Kibazange (21-15-4, 8 KO) 80-72.
Charlie Senior (4-0, 2 KO) defeated Jesus Carrasco (2-3-1) in six rounds in the first round of their featherweight match, then finished the fight in the fifth round, while heavyweight Lewis Williams (4-0, 1 KO) won every available session against Ben Vickers (3-3-1, 1 KO).
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In the super lightweight division, Reese Lynch (3-0, 1 KO) defeated Dan Booth (6-20, 3 KO), and Lasha Guruli (3-0, 1 KO) did the same against Benito Sanchez Garcia (17-17-4, 5 KO).
In four-round fights, Joe Cooper (6-0) won every round against Serge Ambomo (13-71-3, 4 KO) in the middleweight and super lightweight division, Ellis Panter (1-0) impressed with his traveling support, scoring points against Garth Noot (1-16-2, 1 KO).
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On Saturday in Sheffield, Josh Padley will defend his European super featherweight title against Aqib Fiaz for the first time.
Eddie HearnMatchroom is promoting the Padley vs Fiaz fight from Utilita Arena live on DAZN worldwide.
The pair were scheduled to fight on the undercard, but were later advanced to the main event Dalton Smith’s WBC super lightweight title defense against Albert Puello and then Galal Yafai’s clash with unified flyweight world champion Ricardo Sandoval was shelved due to injury.
Padley (18-1, 6 KO) won the vacant belt after a second-round stoppage of Jaouad Belmehdi in Newcastle in January.
The 30-year-old has won three times since a ninth-round defeat to Shakur Stevenson for the WBC lightweight title on four days’ notice.
Fiaz (14-1, 2 KO) is looking to break the script here and has won two in a row since an eight-round retirement loss to mutual opponent Reece Bellotti in 2023, whom Padley defeated by unanimous decision in October.
The 26-year-old last didn’t play 11 months ago, securing a unanimous decision victory over Alex Murphy.
Nadim-Sulaimaan will fight for the title of English champion
Ibrahim Nadim defends his English super featherweight crown for the first time against Ibraheem Sulaimaan.
Nadim (16-1, 2 KO) secured the vacant belt with a unanimous decision victory over Numan Hussain in November, and Sulaimaan (10-0, 5 KO) became the Midlands Area champion with a sixth-round victory over Nico Ogbeide also in November.
Undercard remaining
Middleweight Aaron Bowen (7-1, 5 KO) suffered his first professional loss to Tom Cowling in November, but can get back to winning ways with a stoppage victory over Troy Coleman (15-4-1, 7 KO).
Heavyweight prospect Leo Atang (6-0, 5 KO) can remain excellent by defeating Frenchman Fouad Shaili (5-4-2, 3 KO).
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Connor Mitchell (2-0, 1 KO) can improve his undefeated record by scoring points over Jesus Carrasco (2-4-2) at featherweight, while Chris Mulanda (2-0) can do the same against Connor Goulding (6-12) in their middleweight bout.
Adam Maca (5-0, 5 KO) and Edward Hardy (6-0, 2 KO) will return to the pitch against an as yet unspecified opponent.
The post Josh Padley vs Aqib Fiaz – Gigantic Fight Preview and Predictions appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
Anthony Joshua won’t be leaving boxing any time soon.
Joshua returns to the ring on July 25 in Saudi Arabia against Kristian Prengi, ahead of a thrilling clash with long-time rival Tyson Fury in November.
The two-time world heavyweight champion was expected to potentially end his career after his long-awaited clash with Fury, but the 36-year-old insists he can continue for another four years, even opening the door to a potential clash with the rising 21-year-old heavyweight champion, Moses This is going to hurt.
“For me, maybe until I’m 40,” Joshua told reporters.
“It’s only been about three or four years.
“I’ll be 37 in October, so it’s only three years, it’ll go by quickly.
“Of course it will be challenging, but I definitely think I’m tough enough to do it.
“Why not, why not? I’m definitely more mature.”
“AJ” will fight for the first time since the sixth-round knockout of Jake Paul in Miami in December.
The Watford player took a break from the sport after he was involved in a devastating road accident in Nigeria 10 days later that killed two of his close friends, Latif “Latz” Ayodele and Sina Ghami.
Joshua, who met Prenga face-to-face earlier this week, said he strongly supports parents Ayodele and Ghami.
“You’ll never get over it, but you’ll gain perspective in life,” he said BBC Sport.
“Life sometimes teaches you humility. You never know your fate.
“As a soldier, I stand powerful in defense of their parents.
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“First of all, it’s not about me.
“I think it’s crucial to put parents first at this time.
“I will have time to grieve, but I know that right now my heart and mind say that their parents are my main priority.”
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Joshua’s fight against Prenga will take place at the Jeddah Superdome.
Fury, who retired in April to defeat Arslanbek Makhmudov, is scheduled to have another warm-up fight on August 1.
The post Anthony Joshua REVEALS when he will retire from boxing appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
Chris Billam-Smith returns to his hometown of Bournemouth to headline the inaugural Zuffa Boxing UK event against Ryan Rozicki on Saturday.
Billam-Smith is taking on Rozicki at the Bournemouth International Center and the bill is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and Paramount+ in the US.
“The Gentleman” is fighting in Bournemouth for the first time since he forced Mateusz Masternak to retire in the eighth round during the first defense of his WBO cruiserweight title.
After taking revenge on Richard Riakporhe in a rematch, the 35-year-old dropped the heavyweight belt lost by unanimous decision to Zurdo Ramirez in reunification in 2024
Billam-Smith (21-2, 13 KO) returned to winning ways after a points victory over Brandon Glanton in his last appearance in April last year.
Rozicki (21-1-1, 20 KO) has lost only once in his 23 professional fights, overtaken by Oscar Rivas in the fight for the WBC bridgeweight crown in 2021.
“The Bruiser” previously fought for the WBC interim cruiserweight title and drew against Yamil Alberto Peralta.
The 31-year-old Canadian returned to winning ways after knocking out Gerardo Mellado in the second round in March and will enter Saturday’s fight as the number one contender in the WBC rankings.
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Massey meets Clarke
Jack Massey meets Cheavon Clarke at the cruiserweight crossroads.
Massey (23-3, 13 KO) was knocked out by Opetaia in his fight for the 2024 IBF cruiserweight crown, but got back into the win column in November with a fourth-round stoppage of Ivan Gabriel Garcia.
Clarke (11-2, 8 KO), a 2020 Olympian, saw his progress ponderous after consecutive losses to Leonardo Mosquea and Viddal Riley.
After returning to play in December, the 35-year-old knocked out Anthony Holloway in the fourth round.
Undercard remaining
Lee Cutler (15-2, 7 KO) from Bournemouth moves to middleweight and can return to winning ways thanks to a points victory over Aaron Sutton (19-2, 3 KO).
Heavyweight Ivan Dychko (15-1, 14 KO) was defeated by Jermaine Franklin in September, but should bounce back by handing Harvey Dykes (7-0-1) his first loss after the break.
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Stephen McKenna (15-1, 14 KO) hasn’t fought since his loss to Cutler in 2024, but he should return after his victory over Casey James Streeter (15-3-2, 6 KO) in the middleweight division.
In the third middleweight fight, Sam Hickey (4-0, 1 KO) can break the undefeated record of Todd Tompkins (4-0) by scoring points.
Airy heavyweight Leon Hughes (4-0, 3 KO) and welterweight Alex Macmillan (3-0, 2 KO) should secure victories in their respective fights via stoppage.
The post Chris Billam-Smith vs. Ryan Rozicki – Gigantic Fight Preview and Predictions appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
Ryan Rozicki won’t catch up in one training camp
Josh Padley vs. Aqib Fiaz – Gigantic Fight Preview and Predictions
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