WBO Partnership with Jake Paul’s Boxing Bullies was a complete success in our first boxing amateur event; Special Undisputed WBO Championship to Amanda Serrano
Jake Paul’s non-profit foundation ‘Boxing Bullies’ partners with the WBO to help renovate gyms in US and Puerto Rico launching first amateur boxing event in the island.
The inaugural partnership with Boxing Bullies organization was a complete success in our first boxing amateur event held at the renowned Félix Pagán Pintor Boxing Gym located in the city of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The gym is supervised by WBO Two-Division (105, 108 lbs) World Champion Iván Calderon!
14 exciting fights, special diamond belt for Undisputed WBO Featherweight Champion Amanda Serrano, boxing equipment to the competidors and more were the order of the day in the crowded event.
Today, #WBO & volunteers from the Municipality of Salinas (Puerto Rico) donated beds, sheets, pillows, and other essentials to various households who lost everything as result of Hurricane Fiona. #Socialwork
#Photos #HelpingHand #HuracanFiona Donaciones de colchones, ropa de cama y suministros a los afectados por el huracán Fiona en el pueblo de Salinas, específicamente barrio El Coquí.
Liverpool fan-favourite Paul Butler will aim to unseat world champion John Riel Casimero as global boxing and media company Probellum brings its first show to Liverpool on Friday, April 22.
Butler will lead a stellar list of big-name fighters such as former WBA super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding, next generation stars including Liverpool-born brothers Peter and Joe McGrail, and the highly rated duo of Will Cawley and Luke McCormack.
In the night’s main event at the M&S Bank Arena, Filipino Casimero (31-4, 21 knockouts) puts his WBO bantamweight title on the line against the UK’s Butler (33-2, 15 knockouts) in a bout which was originally due to be held at Probellum’s inaugural December 2021 show in Dubai before Casimero was unable to make weight.
“Liverpool is one of the most passionate boxing cities in the world and we are delighted to be holding our first show at the M&S Bank Arena in April,” said Richard Schaefer, President of Probellum.
“This is an absolutely fantastic card featuring a combination of world-class fighters, extremely talented aspiring stars and packed with local talent whose fans will no doubt create a truly unique atmosphere.
“With the likes of John Riel Casimero, Paul Butler, Rocky Fielding and the McGrail brothers all set to put on a great show, we fully expect some thrilling fights and a fantastic occasion.”
Local fans will be in full voice supporting recent Probellum signings the McGrail brothers, Peter (2-0, 1 knockout) and Joe (1-0, 1 knockout), who both secured second-round stoppage victories when they fought at the M&S Bank Arena on the Connor Benn versus Chris Algieri undercard in December.
Also on the card are the Probellum duo of rising-star Cawley (1-0) who will be aiming to build on his impressive debut victory in November 2021 and former Olympian McCormack who is set to make his professional bow following a superb career at amateur level, during which time he represented Team GB.
WBO light heavyweight world champion Joe Smith Jr will make his first title defense against an unlikely contender. British puncher Callum Johnson tested positive for COVID-19, so Smith will now face Steve Geffrard on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Turning Stone Resort Casino and LIVE on ESPN and ESPN Deportes (simulcast on ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
In the 10-round co-feature, featherweight contender Abraham Nova (20-0, 14 KOs), who was originally slated to fight Jose Enrique Vivas, will fight Dominican veteran William “El Gago” Encarnacion (19-1, 15 KOs) after Vivas dropped out with an injury.
“I give Steve credit for taking this fight on short notice,” Smith said. “He is a tough guy, and I expect him to bring everything he has for this opportunity. I’m ready to fight regardless of who is in the ring with me. My goal is the same, which is to defend my world title and keep it on Long Island where it belongs.”
Geffrard said, “This is the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s crazy how boxing works. One moment I’m thinking about boxing on a local show, then the phone rings for a chance to fight for the WBO world title on ESPN. Unreal!”
Smith (27-3, 21 KOs), the fighting pride of Long Island, won the title last April with a majority decision over Maxim Vlasov. His proposed October return was postponed due to a COVID-19 diagnosis, and with Johnson out, he turns his attention to Geffrard (18-2, 12 KOs), a 31-year-old native of Miami, Florida.
Geffrard is a nine-year pro who has won 18 straight fights since starting his career 0-2. He upped his record to 18-2 last March, winning an eight-round unanimous decision over longtime contender Denis Grachev. Geffrard had a fight scheduled for Jan. 8 in Delray Beach, Florida, but the “South Florida Cinderella Man” jumped at the chance to fight Smith on eight days’ notice.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, tickets priced from $49 to $89 are on sale now and can be purchased at the Turning Stone Resort Box Office, charge by phone by calling 800.771.7711 or online at Ticketmaster.
Letter received (Sunday, November 21, 2021)
To: Mr. President Francisco Paco Valcarcel
From: Egis Klimas / Zhanibek Alimkhanuly’s Manager
Dear WBO President,
As per WBO regulations, the deadline of mandatory for Middleweight World Champion Demetrius Andrade is next month in December of this year. We would like you and WBO committee to consider my middleweight boxer Janibek Alimkhanuly for mandatory position, he has been ranked #2. Janibek is a 2016 Olympian and in his pro career since October 2016 he got his record 11-0 with 7KO’s. In his 6th pro bout Janibek won the WBO Global title and defended it 5 times with top opponents including former World Champions Rob Brand and Hassan N’Dam in his last 2 fights. We strongly believe that Janibek deserves to be in the mandatory position against the WBO Champion, Demetrius Andrade.
WBO Champion Terence “Bud” Crawford and “Showtime” Shawn Porter didn’t need to hoot and holler to make their point. With fight day three days away, they were all business. The longtime acquaintances came up together in the amateur ranks in the late 2000s. At the time, Porter outweighed Crawford by more than 30 pounds. More than a decade later, the welterweight stars are finally crossing paths.
Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), the three-weight pound-for-pound great, will make the fifth defense of his WBO welterweight title against Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 20 at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Presented by Top Rank and TGB Promotions, Crawford-Porter will be a Top Rank PPV exclusively on ESPN+ in the United States at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. CLICK HERE to view the ESPN+ order page.
At Wednesday’s main event press conference, this is what Crawford and Porter had to say.
Terence Crawford
“I respect everything that Shawn does. Shawn is athletic, he can box, he can bang, he can move around in the ring, he can cut corners and take angles. I’m not going to sit here and say that I don’t respect anything that he does. I’m just going to say that I do a lot of things better than Shawn. I’m going to show him come Saturday.
“Once we signed that contract, the switch was already flipped and I can’t wait to go out there Saturday to display my talent and look good doing it. Until then, right now I’m just chilling, playing Call of Duty in the room by myself all day. I’ve been in the room all day isolating.”
Shawn Porter
“I don’t think there’s too much that I can say to Bud that’s going to change the way he thinks about himself and the outcome of this fight. He can’t look at me and say, ‘I’m going to beat your ass’ and I’m going to believe that, and he knows that, and he won’t dare to do it. I could say the exact same thing he said, and I believe it.
“Terence, you know better than I do that you’ve matured. I feel like people see your personality and your character right now more than they’ve ever seen, but I feel like I’m still correct in saying that when the wrong Tweet or Instagram post goes up, you can get upset.
“There are people you can get to, and there are people that you can’t get to. I’m one of those people that you can’t get to, and I got a feeling that you can get to him quicker on the microphone than you can in the ring. In the ring, he is solid, but there may be something that is posted or said that might have an affect on him {during} the fight.
“I’m relaxing, I’m drinking water and just biding my time. I am a showtime fighter, and I can’t wait for showtime on ESPN+ PPV. I’m a really even-keeled type of guy. I like things to be easy, and fight week is always easy for me.”
SATURDAY, November 20, 2021
ESPN+ PPV, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter, 12 rounds, Crawford’s WBO Welterweight World Title
Esquiva Falcao vs. Patrice Volny, 12 rounds, IBF Middleweight Title Eliminator
Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Hassan N’Dam, 10 rounds, Alimkhanuly’s WBC Continental Americas and WBO Global Middleweight Titles
Raymond Muratalla vs. Elias Araujo, 8 rounds, lightweight
ESPN2 & ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Isaac Dogboe vs. Christopher Diaz, 10 rounds, Dogboe’s NABF Featherweight Title
Adam Lopez vs. Adan Ochoa, 8 rounds, featherweight
ESPN APP (no paywall), 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT
Karlos Balderas vs. Fidel Cervantes, 6 rounds, junior lightweight
Tiger Johnson vs. Antonius Grable, 4 rounds, welterweight
Filipino veteran Jonas Sultan (18-5, 11 KOs) did not read the script. The former world title challenger spoiled the New York debut of Carlos Caraballo (14-1, 14 KOs), knocking the Puerto Rican contender down four times en route to a 10-round unanimous decision in the bantamweight co-feature. All three judges scored the fight 94-93 for Sultan, who knocked down Caraballo in the second, sixth and ninth rounds. The two traded knockdowns in the third, with Caraballo landing a glancing blow as the bell sounded.
Sultan said, “This is boxing. This is war. And I came to win tonight. Caraballo is a tough man, but I wanted this one.”
Two-division WBO World Champion Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and his trainer Pedro Navarrete received special recognition awards during the WBO Executive Committee meeting and rising prospect Xander Zayas was named Prospect of the Year.
ATLANTA (Oct. 21, 2021)—They started as acquaintances, but once Jamel Herring acquired the belt Shakur Stevenson wanted, the friendly vibes went out the window. Herring will defend his WBO junior lightweight world title against former featherweight champion Stevenson on Saturday night from State Farm Arena in Atlanta (ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET).
Herring (23-2, 11 KOs) has made three defenses of the title he won from Masayuki Ito in May 2019. Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs), a 2016 Olympic silver medalist, is considered by many to be the heir to the pound-for-pound throne. He picked up the interim world title in June with a dominant decision over Jeremiah Nakathila.
When Herring and Stevenson had their final faceoff, the fighters and their teams exchanged verbal barbs, with Stevenson grabbing Herring’s belt on multiple occasions. They were separated and will resume the jawing at Friday’s weigh-in.
The ESPN main card will also feature Puerto Rican star Xander Zayas (10-0, 7 KOs) in a six-round junior middleweight bout against Dan Karpency, and the second pro bout for middleweight Nico Ali Walsh, grandson of “The Greatest.”
The ESPN+ undercard stream (7:30 p.m. ET) will showcase junior middleweight prospect Evan Holyfield (7-0, 5 KOs), son of Atlanta legend and former four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com.
At Thursday’s final press conference, this is what the combatants had to say.
Jamel Herring
“The odds just play to my story. I’ve always been an underdog, not just in boxing but in life, so I don’t get into the oddsmaker thing. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
“It’s not personal, it’s just business. We’re building a fight is all it means to me. I’ve heard worse and been through worse. We’re just two top competitors in the division trying to prove who is the best.”
“It just feels like another elite level fight in a loaded and talented division, so we just take it one fight at a time. We put all personal feelings to the side and just go to work and do what we have to do.”
“Atlanta is cool. I have family out here. My sons live out here as well. It’s another home and it’s an honor just to be fighting in the State Farm Arena because there’s not a lot of fights coming into town, so whenever you can bring a special fight to a certain city, it’s always a great thing.”
Shakur Stevenson
“It means everything to me. This is my first time being able to go against a champion and being able to take a champion’s belt will mean a lot to me…. and I can’t wait to hear them say, “AND THE NEW!'”
“It’s definitely not personal, just business at the end of the day. He’s not my friend. I don’t hit him up and say, ‘let’s fight.'” We don’t have any conversations. I don’t talk to Jamel Herring outside of boxing.”
“It’s going to feel real good beating the whole team. I can’t wait to go against {Herring trainers Brian McIntyre and Red Spikes}. It’s not just Jamel that I’m fighting. I’ve got to beat Bomac and Red, and it’ll feel good doing that.”
“You’re going to see a special night, my coming out party. It’s going to be a great night, and he said he’s going to spoil the party, so let’s see if he can do it.”
Congratulations to WBO Featherweight World Champion Emanuel Navarrete, who yesterday received his beautiful Champions’. The ring is a gift from the WBO in recognition of Navarrete successfully defending the WBO Junior Featherweight title five times. The sky is the limit, Champ!
Reload document 
Open in new tab 
