Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez Defeats Sunny Edwards to Unify WBO & IBF Flyweight Titles

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is celebrating a big win…

The 23-year-old Mexican American professional boxer registered a ninth-round stoppage of Sunny Edwards on Saturday evening in Glendale, Ariz., to unify the WBO and IBF flyweight titles in an action fight.

Rodriguez slowly broke down Edwards before he floored the Englishman at the end of Round 9 with a jab to the body followed by an overhand left. Edwards crashed into the canvas face-first — a face that was severely marked up — but managed to survive.

There was a deep gash over Edwards’ right eye and his left eye was also cut up. Edwards said he couldn’t see out of either eye by the conclusion, which came when his corner halted the bout following Round 9.

“I brought something out of him tonight that he couldn’t handle,” said Rodriguez, who was named ESPN‘s No. 1 boxer under 25 years old last week. ” … He was a lot quicker than I thought; a lot smarter than I thought . … I made him wanna fight … He got caught.”

Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs) was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage: 89-81, 87-87 and 87-83.

The San Antonio native entered the ring ESPN’s No. 1 boxer at 112 pounds. Following a sound defeat of the No. 2 fighter in the weight class, Rodriguez could return to 115 pounds, where he was once a champion.

Future Hall of Famer Juan Francisco Estrada was ringside; both Rodriguez and promoter Eddie Hearn indicated the 115-pound champion from Mexico could be next.

“Up close, that was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen,” Hearn said. “This kid is super special. … You talk about pound-for-pound great fighters. Sometimes the lower division don’t get the credit they deserve.”

Rodriguez emerged from his most recent fight, a decision over Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez in August, with a broken jaw. But as “Bam” absorbed several clean overhand lefts during the first few rounds, he proved he was fully recovered.

He established an active southpaw jab from the opening bell, a punch that served as a tablesetter for his heavy left hands but also controlled range.

Rodriguez used that stiff jab as a power punch, too. In Round 2, the jab left Edwards with a large welt around his left eye. The 27-year-old said he couldn’t see from that point.

Edwards (20-1, 4 KOs) is known for his boxing ability, defense and footwork, but he elected to sit down on his shots and exchange with Rodriguez in the pocket from Round 3 onward. Edwards often switched to southpaw and unleashed overhand lefts that met their mark.

He began to beat “Bam” to the punch. However, Edwards had only scored four KOs in his 20 victories, and the power wasn’t enough to fend off Rodriguez’s sweltering pressure.

Rodriguez started to impose his size and as the rounds ticked by, his heavier, cleaner shots started to sap Edwards’ legs.

“Bam” stunned Edwards in the closing moments of Round 6 before he dropped his hands, allowing Edwards to catch him with a series of shots.

“I was confident the whole fight,” Rodriguez said. “Maybe too confident.”

It didn’t matter. Edwards was reeling by the end of Round 8 as Rodriguez began to batter him with a bundle of power shots.

Edwards tried to slug it out with Rodriguez in a gutsy display down the stretch, but Rodriguez was simply too strong, too powerful and too good.

“I couldn’t just keep moving, and moving and moving,” Edwards said. “His feet are too good for that, his lead hand was too good for that. I had to make him miss and try to land…

“The better man won tonight, no excuses. It wasn’t my night tonight but I’ll definitely be back for sure.”

Teofimo Lopez Finalizing Deal to Defend WBO Junior Welterweight Against Jamaine Ortiz in February

Posted on December 16, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Teofimo Lopez is thisclose to locking in his next opponent…

He 26-year-old Honduran American boxer and Jamaine Ortiz are finalizing a deal to fight for Lopez’s WBO junior welterweight title on February 8 in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN.

The 140-pound championship bout will headline Top Rank Boxing on ESPN on a Thursday evening, three days before Super Bowl LVIII is played in the same city.

Lopez, one of boxing’s rising stars, is coming off a superb performance in June, when he dominated Josh Taylor via unanimous decision to become a two-division champion.

The triumph was a rebound of sorts for Lopez, who struggled to earn a split decision over Sandor Martin six months earlier. Taylor was the undisputed champion but vacated three of his four titles ahead of the Lopez fight.

Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) briefly claimed retirement after the victory but reversed course soon after. The 26-year-old, who fights out of Las Vegas, is ESPN‘s No. 2 boxer at 140 pounds. Lopez’s career-best performance remains his unanimous decision victory over future Hall of Famer Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020. Lopez went on to lose his lightweight championship to George Kambosos in ESPN’s 2021 Upset of the Year.

And it was against Lomachenko that Ortiz (17-1-1, 8 KOs) proved his capability at the top level.

The 27-year-old from Worcester, Massachusetts, was in control during the first half of the October 2022 bout — Ortiz was a 12-1 underdog — before he faded down the stretch. But before he did, he displayed his jab, strength and athleticism against an all-time great.

That performance followed his breakthrough win over former titleholder Jamel Herring earlier that year. Now, Ortiz will move up to 140 pounds for his first world title shot. And it comes against a fighter with whom he shares a history.

It was Lopez who defeated Ortiz in the 2015 National Golden Gloves Quarterfinal. Nearly 10 years later, they meet again with far greater stakes.

“I was impressed by Ortiz, really,” Lopez told Fight Hub after the Ortiz-Lomachenko bout. “I think overall Jamaine Ortiz is still seasoned enough to give everybody else bigger and better fights as well.”

Rafael Espinoza Upsets Robeisy Ramirez to Claim WBO Championship

Posted on December 10, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Espinoza has pulled off a massive upset…

The 29-year-old Mexican boxer, an unheralded featherweight contender, shocked the boxing world on Saturday, after upsetting two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez to claim the WBO championship.

Espinoza (22-0, 18 KOs) entered the bout with a pristine professional record, although the majority of his work had come against relatively unknown competition in Mexico.

Ramirez (13-2, 8 KOs) was a 15-1 betting favorite, and the bout took place in front of a very pro-Ramirez crowd at Dodge City Center near Miami. It was seen as Ramirez’s fight to lose.

Espinoza clearly didn’t see it that way. The lanky featherweight, in his first world title appearance, threw nearly 1,000 punches over the course of 12 rounds and won a majority decision via scores of 115-111, 114-112 and 113-113.

The 12-round affair immediately qualified as a fight of the year candidate. Espinoza went down from a right hook to the chin in the fifth, while Ramirez took his turn on the canvas from a barrage of punches in the 12th.

Despite not having fought past a third round in three years, Espinoza looked as if he could have fought another 12 at the conclusion. Volume was his greatest weapon, and he out-landed Ramirez 103 to 33 in the final three rounds.

The fight played out in three chapters. Espinoza’s length and volume frustrated Ramirez early, and Espinoza jumped out to a four-round lead on most scorecards. Everything turned in the final second of the fifth, when Ramirez dropped Espinoza with a short right hand. Espinoza barely survived the count and was saved by the bell as soon as action resumed.

Ramirez, 29, of Cuba, hurt Espinoza several more times in the middle frames. Espinoza’s right leg also appeared compromised at one point, after an awkward lower body clash between the two competitors. By the eighth round, it looked like normalcy had returned to the ring and Ramirez was in control, but Espinoza then somehow hit another gear.

The gutsy fighter from Guadalajara threw 995 punches to Ramirez’s 376, according to Compubox. Ramirez was far more consistent, as Espinoza only landed 222 to Ramirez’s 119. But there was no question the volume had taken its toll on the defending champion by the 12th round, and Ramirez was running on fumes. Espinoza threw 120 punches in the 12th round alone.

Xander Zayas Defeats Jorge Fortea to Set Up Bout Against Patrick Teixeira

Posted on December 10, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Xander Zayas’ impressive ring performance helps set up his next fight…

The 21-year-old Puerto Rican boxer took only five rounds to dispatch 14-year veteran Jorge Fortea in front of an adoring crowd on Saturday at Dodge City Center near Miami.

Although it probably felt a lot longer to Fortea.

Zayas (18-0, 12 KOs) earned a knockout stoppage at 1:37 of the fifth round after a crushing left hook to Fortea’s body. The body shot brought a merciful end to the junior middleweight bout, which Zayas dominated from start to finish with vicious body combinations and power shots along the ropes. He landed 27 total body shots on Fortea, two of which forced Fortea to take a knee, once in the first and again in the fifth.

The impressive showcase by Zayas sets up a bout on February 16 against Patrick Teixeira, the No. 2-ranked junior middleweight by the WBO.

“We knew he liked to keep his elbows out,” Zayas said of Fortea. “It was just a matter of time since we got him in the first round. After that, he kind of went into survival mode. February 16, [Madison Square Garden], Patrick Teixeira, you’re next!”

In total, Zayas landed 285 punches to 144 for Fortea. Both of Fortea’s eyes were badly swollen by the third. It was the Spanish fighter’s first loss since he suffered a knockout against Anthony Fowler in March 2021.

Ivan Calderon Voted into International Boxing Hall of Fame

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Ivan Calderon has entered the Hall…

The 48-year-old Puerto Rican former professional boxer, a two-weight world champion who competed from 2001 to 2012, has been elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

The 13-member class was voted by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a panel of international boxing historians.

Calderon (35-3-1, 6 KOs) held the WBO mini flyweight title from 2003 to 2007, making eleven successful defenses and being recognized as super champion by the organization. He also held the WBO, Ring magazine, and lineal light flyweight titles from 2007 to 2010 (making six successful defenses).^[1] Additionally, his August 2010 bout against Giovani Segura was named fight of the year by Ring magazine.

As an amateur Calderón represented Puerto Rico in international competitions, including the 2000 Olympics.

Diego Corrales, who died two years after winning a 2005 bout voted “Fight of the Year,” is the other member of the Hall’s 2024 class from the men’s modern category.

The enshrinement ceremonies will be June 6-9.

Corrales went 40-5 with 33 KOs and is best remembered for his 2005 victory over Jose Luis Castillo, when he was knocked down twice in the 10th round but then rallied later in the round to stop Castillo.

The former super featherweight and lightweight champion died in 2007 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

Ana Maria Torres of Mexico was elected from the women’s modern category. The 43-year-old Mexican former professional boxer competed from 1999 to 2012. She held the WBC female super flyweight title twice between 2007 and 2012, and challenged once for the WBC female bantamweight title in 2006.

Luis Angel Firpo in the old-timer category was also voted into the hall.

The late Argentine boxer was the first Latin American in history to challenge for the world heavyweight title. His bout against Jess Willard set a world record for boxing attendance. And his heavyweight title bout against Jack Dempseywas namedRing Magazine Fight of the Year for 1923.

Jaime Munguia to Fight John Ryder in a Super Middleweight Bout in January

Posted on December 4, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Jaime Munguia has secured his next opponent…

The 27-year-old Mexican professional boxer, who held the WBO junior middleweight title from 2018 to 2019, will meet John Ryder in a super middleweight bout on January 27 in Phoenix.

Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs), a native of Mexico, is coming off a career-best victory, a unanimous-decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in June. Munguia scored a 12th-round knockdown to pull out the decision in a leading candidate for ESPN‘s Fight of the Year.

Now, Munguia will enter what shapes up as another slugfest.

England’s Ryder is coming off the biggest bout of his career, a spirited unanimous-decision loss to Canelo Alvarez in May.

Ryder (32-6, 18 KOs) was floored in Round 5 and suffered a broken nose against boxing’s top star but was able to land some effective blows down the stretch in Alvarez’s homecoming bout in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Munguia, ESPN‘s No. 6 boxer at 168 pounds, was a titleholder at 154 pounds and is hoping for his own crack at Alvarez next year.

Ryder, ESPN’s No. 4 super middleweight, defeated former champion Daniel Jacobs in 2022 in a career-best win.

Marlen Esparza to Fight Gabriela Fundora in Undisputed Flyweight Championship Bout

Posted on November 18, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Marlen Esparza has secured her next opponent…

The 34-year-old Mexican American boxer and flyweight women’s unified champion and fellow Latina boxing champion Gabriela Fundora will meet for the undisputed flyweight championship on January 6 in Las Vegas, according to ESPN.

The fight will be on the undercard of Vergil Ortiz Jr.‘s 154-pound debut against Fredrick Lawson, a show promoted by Golden Boy.

Esparza (14-1, 1 KO), of Houston, a bronze medalist for the U.S. at the 2012 Olympic Games and ESPN’s No. 1 ranked flyweight, won the WBC belt with a victory over Anabel Ortiz in December 2021. Esparza knocked down Ortiz twice en route to a unanimous decision win by scorecards of 100-88, 99-90 and 95-94.

Esparza added the WBA title four months later with a one-sided decision victory over Naoko Fujioka (100-90, 100-90 and 97-93), and after one successful defense against Eva Guzman in August 2022, Esparza unified the WBO belt in a tough fight against Gabriela Celeste Alaniz, whom she beat by majority decision (99-91, 97-93 and 95-95) this past July.

Fundora (12-0, 5 KOs), of Coachella, California, is the younger sister of former junior middleweight interim titlist Sebastian Fundora.

Gabriela Fundora, ranked No. 2 by ESPN in the division, has been very active in 2023, fighting three times, including a fifth-round TKO victory over Arely Mucino in October to win the IBF title.

Emanuel Navarrete Retains WBO Junior Lightweight Title with Majority Draw Over Robson Conceicao

Posted on November 17, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Emanuel Navarrete has retained his WBO junior lightweight title.

The 28-year-old Mexican boxer floored Robson Conceicao twice but settled for a majority draw in his title defense bout on Thursday at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

Navarrete (38-1, 31 KOs) dropped Conceicao in Round 4 and again in Round 7.

He was on the verge of stopping the challenger in the penultimate round as the referee inched closer to the action, but Conceicao never wilted.

Conceicao, an Olympic gold medalist from Brazil, won the final round on all three scorecards to avoid defeat in his third challenge and likely earn a rematch.

One judge scored the 130-pound title bout 114-112 for Navarrete but was overruled by two 113-113 tallies.

“I’m happy to come away with the belt,” Navarrete, ESPN‘s No. 1 boxer at 130 pounds, said through an interpreter. “We both did what we said we were going to do. … He’s a tremendous fighter. His technique is next level, and that’s what it makes it so hard.

“If it’s up to me, I would definitely give Robson a rematch because he definitely deserves it.”

Navarrete (38-1-1, 31 KOs) dropped Conceicao in the fourth with a right hand to the temple and then knocked him down again three rounds later with a right hand to the body.

Conceicao (17-2-1, 8 KOs) was happy to stay in the pocket, though, regardless of the power disparity. He jabbed and moved and connected on combinations while Navarrete swarmed him with his patented awkward angles.

With both eyes swollen, Conceicao saved his best for the final round as he took the fight to the champion.

“I think we both deserve a rematch,” Conceicao, ESPN’s No. 7 junior lightweight, said through an interpreter. “I proved what I’m capable of. I give ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete a lot of credit. He’s a powerful fighter, but I know what I did tonight. I deserved the victory.”

If it weren’t for the two knockdowns, Conceicao, 35, would have earned the win. But instead, he likely earned a rematch with a career-best performance.

His first two title shots didn’t come on an even playing field. When he challenged Oscar Valdez in 2021, he did so weeks after Valdez tested positive for a banned substance but was allowed to compete. Conceicao settled for a controversial decision loss.

One year later, Conceicao challenged Shakur Stevenson for a title, but Stevenson weighed in over the 130-pound limit and cruised to victory.

Navarrete, meanwhile, was coming off a win over Valdez in August in his first title defense. The 28-year-old also won titles at 122 and 126 pounds.

Amanda Serrano Defeats Danila Ramos in Historic Unified Women’s Championship Fight

Posted on October 28, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Amanda Serrano is a unified women’s champion…

After throwing more than 1,100 punches in the first unified women’s championship fight contested at 12 three-minute rounds, the 35-year-old Puerto Rican boxer beat Danila Ramos by unanimous decision, earning three 120-108 scores to retain the IBF, WBO and WBA titles.

It was a night Serrano had hoped would be a potential change for women’s boxing.

“What’s so funny is that when I was in there, I really couldn’t feel the difference,” Serrano said. “In the sixth round, I was like, is it really three minutes or did they go back to two minutes?

“I felt good. I was in really good shape. I trained really hard for this fight knowing I had to go out there and prove to everybody, prove people right or prove people wrong, that women can do whatever they put their minds to.”

Serrano and Ramos showed they could do that — same as any male fighters. At the end, Serrano and Ramos hugged near the center of the ring. There were no knockdowns, no dynamic finishes — just a strong 12-round fight for the WBA, WBO and IBF featherweight titles.

It was a fight Serrano wanted for a while and one Ramos took nearly immediately, understanding the ramifications of being one half of history.

“I knew this was the time,” Ramos said through an interpreter. “This was the time for me to come through, come by and to let the world meet me. I’ve have always been a woman who fought for equality and women’s rights.”

It was in the championship rounds, where Serrano and Ramos had not been before, where the fight had its most electrifying moments. Chants of “Amanda! Amanda! Amanda!” reverberated throughout the sellout crowd at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, where Puerto Rican flags sat on every seat and were waved liberally throughout the night.

Serrano shined in those rounds. Her best punch of the night might have been a straight right in the 10th, which landed flush on Ramos’ head. Serrano came close to getting a stoppage in that round, bringing the crowd to its feet for one of the few times all night.

It had been a vintage half-round from Serrano, what she had so often shown in the two-minute-round fights she’d been in for more than a decade. It continued throughout the 11th round as well, with the Serrano punching Ramos around the ring.

Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KO) landed 338 of 1,103 punches — averaging 92 punches a round, reminiscent of her typical style. Ramos (12-3, 1 KO) averaged 71 punches a round and landed 120 of 846 punches.

And at the end, Serrano made it clear she wants to fight only three-minute rounds going forward. Her team said that as well — insisting they would not take on potential challengers Skye Nicolson or Alycia Baumgardner if they wanted to fight at two minutes.

At this point in her career, Serrano said, three minutes is what she wants to do.

“She’s the ‘A side,'” Serrano’s promoter, Nakisa Bidarian said. “She’s the decision maker. You want to fight Amanda Serrano, you come to Amanda Serrano’s house.”

It started, too, like a typical men’s fight, with both Serrano and Ramos feeling each other out over the first few rounds. Serrano and her trainer, Jordan Maldonado, said that was part of the plan — see what worked and what didn’t.

“I had to,” Serrano said. “It was the first 12, 3-minute rounds. I want to make sure I just didn’t give it everything I had in the first couple rounds just in case.”

Certainly more than they would in a typical two-minute-round women’s fight. By the third, though, Serrano’s typical aggressive style started to pick up.

Gabriela Fundora Scores TKO Victory Over Arely Mucino to Claim IBF Flyweight Title in First Attempt

Posted on October 22, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Gabriela Fundora is officially a titleholder…

The 21-year-old Latina professional boxer scored two knockdowns en route to a fifth-round TKO victory over IBF flyweight champion Arely Mucino to claim the title.

Fundora threw punch after punch, finding the face and body of Mucino over and over again. It was clinical from the opening bell until the fight was stopped less than 10 minutes later.

In the end, Fundora (12-0, 5 KO) defeated Mucino to win the IBF flyweight belt in her first title fight.

“We just stayed calm,” Fundora said in the post-fight interview on DAZN. “We’re not going to go rushing into the fight. That’s not smart. So we just stay calm, stay focused and stay in attack.

“And honestly at the end of the first round, we saw that she was hurt so I knew from there it was going to be a long night.”

A long night, at least, for Mucino (32-4-2, 11 KO), who was making the first defense of the title. She had also held the IBF, WBC and WBO flyweight belts earlier in her career.

This was Mucino’s first loss since 2015 and the second stoppage loss in her career — she lost the IBF belt the first time in a second round knockout against Ava Knight in 2011.

This fight took a little longer, but was a high-level performance from Fundora, ESPN’s No. 5 flyweight and a rising star in the sport since she turned pro at age 18. Fundora landed 136 of 305 punches throughout the four-plus rounds — a 45% connect rate — while Mucino landed 31 of 177 punches.

It was the third win in as many fights for Fundora in 2023, and her first stoppage since last April. Mucino, ESPN’s No. 2 flyweight, was also the toughest opponent Fundora had faced in only her third 10-round fight.

Trained by her father, Freddy Fundora, and often working out with her brother, former WBC interim junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora, they had been angling for this moment for over a year. And now, it finally came.

After the victory, she said her mom had cannolis ready to celebrate in their home outside Bakersfield, California.

“I’m just going to go enjoy that, enjoy this belt and enjoy the victory with my loved ones and my family,” Fundora said. “Take each step as it comes.”

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