Category: Boxing

• Bivol wins rematch by MD 12 (114-114, 116-112, 115-113)
• Parker blasts out Bakole by KO 2 in co-feature attraction
• Stevenson stops Padley to retain WBC lightweight title

The fighters have been announced by ring announcer Michael Buffer. The final instructions have been given by the British referee Kevin Parker, the seconds are out and we’ll pick it up with round-by-round coverage from here!

The fighters are making their ringwalks for the main event. First it’s Dmitry Bivol, who canters down the runway wearing a silver robe with black trim to группа крови by the Russian rock band Kino. Now it’s Artur Beterbiev’s turn. The unbeaten champion is in an equal hurry to reach the squared circle, wearing a black T-shirt and matching shorts as Вперед Ахмат by Dagestani singer Rizavdi Ismailov plays.

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• Bivol wins rematch by MD 12 (114-114, 116-112, 115-113)
• As it happened: Bryan Graham’s round-by-round report

Dmitry Bivol became the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world after he outpointed Artur Beterbiev in another absorbing and magnificent contest of great technical skill and profound courage. Bivol, who narrowly lost a majority decision to the 40-year-old former champion just over four months ago, won the rematch and the sweetest redemption in the early hours of Sunday morning in Riyadh.

The scores were exactly the same as they had been in October – with one judge ruling it a 114-114 draw and the two other officials reaching verdicts of 116-112 and 115-113 – but the key difference was that the winning margins were announced in favour of the deserving Bivol.

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• New Zealander seals victory with emphatic knockdown
• Callum Smith wins all-British battle with Joshua Buatsi

Joseph Parker overcame the surprise of fighting a very different opponent from the man he had been expecting to face when he knocked out Martin Bakole with devastating force in the second round of their heavyweight contest in Riyadh. The New Zealander had been scheduled to challenge Daniel Dubois for his IBF world heavyweight title but, after the champion fell ill with a virus on Thursday, Bakole flew to Saudi Arabia from the Democratic Republic of Congo as an emergency replacement.

The odds against Bakole were underlined by the fact that he had only landed in Riyadh at 3am on the morning of the fight. Less than 22 hours later, at 1.10am local time on Sunday morning, Bakole ambled calmly to the ring. He hopped over the ropes, in his tartan trunks, with admirable alacrity. Parker followed, wearing a bright red tunic and a relaxed smile despite the sudden change of adversary.

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Big hitter from DR Congo has flown out to replace ill Briton against Joseph Parker for Saturday’s showdown in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s attempts to seize control of boxing have been relentless but not even its massive wealth and swaggering certainty can overrule the harsh vagaries of life. Boxing is an extreme and unhinged version of real life and it is always subject to bedlam and disruption. And so, on Thursday afternoon, there was a familiarly knotty twist in the sleek Saudi plan to stage “the greatest fight card in the history of boxing” in Riyadh on Saturday night.

Daniel Dubois, fresh from his destruction of Anthony Joshua, was meant to defend his IBF world heavyweight title against Joseph Parker as the main undercard bout in a seven-fight extravaganza. It carried the promise of an intriguing and dangerous contest for both men – only for Dubois to fall ill with a virus.

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New Zealand fighter has appreciated spending time with his family as he prepares to challenge Daniel Dubois for the IBF world heavyweight title

There’s nothing quite like watching Joe Parker lip-syncing to Take That to lift the mood in the back of an Uber on a drizzly morning in Dublin. The dangerous threat Parker faces against another big-hitting monster of the ring in Daniel Dubois, in Riyadh on Saturday night, fades with the laughter.

Even the depressing reality that boxing will continue to ignore human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, as Parker’s intriguing bout with Dubois headlines an outstanding bill bankrolled by the country’s General Entertainment Authority, can’t erode the wit and charm of the New Zealand heavyweight channelling his inner Gary Barlow.

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• Fight billed as 41-year-old’s last on British soil
• Chisora recovered from badly cut eye to win

Derek Chisora overcame a badly cut eye to deliver a gusty unanimous points win over Otto Wallin in Manchester in what was billed as his final fight on British soil. If this showdown at the Co-op Live Arena really was his home swansong, it was a fitting send-off.

Chisora started on the front foot and maintained his momentum despite picking up a deep cut above his right eye in the fifth round, as well as one below, which poured with blood, before going on to twice put Wallin on the canvas. Despite not being able to find a knockout blow, Chisora was handed a unanimous decision, which could now set him up for a shot at the IBF heavyweight title against either the champion Daniel Dubois or Joseph Parker, who will meet on 22 February.

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• Cooney suffered intracranial haemorrhage at Ulster Hall
• ‘He was a much loved son, brother and partner’

The Irish boxer John Cooney has died, his promoter Mark Dunlop has announced, a week after he was injured in a fight in Belfast.

A statement on Monday said that the 28-year-old was in intensive care following his defeat to the Welshman Nathan Howells at the Ulster Hall last Saturday. The bout was stopped in the ninth round and Cooney had subsequently undergone surgery after it was discovered he had an intracranial haemorrhage. The bout was his first defence of the Celtic super-featherweight title.

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• Global Fighters Association looks to football as model
• Former middleweight Paul Smith says aftercare is needed

Paul Smith says the lack of care and protection for boxers “is not surprising anymore” and that the Global Fighters Association (GFA) will bring support to fighters.

Much like the Professional Footballers’ Association, the GFA aims to introduce a framework where financial support and adequate aftercare is offered to athletes. Retired middleweight Smith – brother to active British fighters Liam and Callum Smith – is one of the group’s founding members alongside the likes of Amir Khan.

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• Shields becomes first undisputed heavyweight champion
• Flint native outpoints Perkins (100-89, 97-92, 99-90)
• Shields ‘not here for people to cry and feel sorry for me’

And here comes Claressa Shields. She’s accompanied by Papoose alongside a small troupe of musicians as she dances her way out of the tunnel and toward the ring, leading the crowd in a round of Whoop That Trick. This is her homecoming fight and she’s squeezing every drop from the atmosphere, beaming from behind a pair of designer sunglasses and wearing a black robe with gold trim.

Anthem time in Flint. First a performance of Lift Every Voice and Sing followed by the Star-Spangled Banner (refreshingly free of catcalls). Now Perkins is entering the arena. She’s wearing a black robe with red trim and making a very, very slow and measured walk to the ring. She looks calm and composed, climbing through the ropes and circling the ropes to polite cheers.

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• Shields unifies titles with unanimous-decision win
• Champion scores 10th-round knockdown in victory
• Claressa Shields v Danielle Perkins – as it happened

Claressa Shields unanimously outpointed Danielle Perkins on Sunday night in the first undisputed heavyweight bout in women’s boxing to remain undefeated.

Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist with titles in five divisions, was in control of the fight from the start. She knocked down Perkins, landing a right hand on her chin with 15 seconds left in the 10th and final round.

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• ‘Mexican Monster’ beats Morrell by unanimous decision
• Benavidez improves to 30-0 with one-sided victory
• Stephen Fulton wins WBC featherweight belt in co-main

David Benavidez unified the light heavyweight championship by earning a unanimous decision over challenger David Morrell on Saturday night to keep his interim WBC belt and win the WBA title.

Judges Patricia Morse Jarman and Steve Weisfeld both scored the fight 115-111 while Tim Cheatham scored it 118-108.

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• Inoue announces Vegas plans after latest knockout win
• Japanese star lays claim as world’s best pound for pound
• Naoya Inoue knocks out Ye Joon Kim – as it happened

The Monster is coming to Las Vegas.

Naoya Inoue, the undefeated Japanese boxing star known as Kaibutsu (怪物), confirmed his plans for a spring fight in the United States after meting out a four-round destruction of South Korea’s Ye Joon Kim on Friday night to strengthen his claim as the world’s finest boxer regardless of weight.

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• Japanese star retains all four major title belts at 122lbs
• Inoue lays claim as world’s top pound-for-pound boxer

Round 3

Kim lands a good combination to start the round between Inoue’s high guard but the champion responds with a straight right hand. Now Inoue is putting together his punches with alarming efficiency. Excellent body work from Inoue. Snappy, precise shots from Inoue, who is outthrowing and outlanding his South Korean foe. A mouse has appeared under the left eye of the challenger. Kim has given a commendable accounting of himself so far, but the gulf in class between the pair is apparent.

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