The camps for super middleweight world titlist David Benavidez and mandatory challenger and former titlist Anthony have come to an agreement and the WBC has canceled a purse bid scheduled for Friday at the sanctioning body’s headquarters in Mexico City. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman notified the organization’s promoters on Thursday afternoon that he had been informed that a deal was reached. There is no date or location set for the fight but Benavidez promoter Sampson Lewkowicz previously told ESPN that he hopes to stage the bout in September. Benavidez (20-0, 17 KOs), 21, of Phoenix, will be making his second defense since he became the youngest world titleholder in division history in September at age 20. Dirrell (32-1-1, 24 KOs), 33, of Flint, Michigan, has won five fights in a row since he lost the same belt to Badou Jack by majority decision in April 2015.

Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer2d ago

Longtime bitter rivals Victor Ortiz and Brandon Rios, both originally from Garden City, Kansas, have gone back and forth about a possible grudge match for many years and now it looks like it's finally going to happen, even if both are long past their best days and the match is not close to being as significant as it would have been a few years ago. Although the deal is not done yet, the welterweights are penciled in to headline the Aug. 4 Premier Boxing Champions card on Fox in prime time at either the StubHub Center in Carson, California, or a site in Texas to be determined, a source with direct knowledge of the plans told ESPN on Thursday. Ortiz (32-6-3, 25 KOs), 31, a former welterweight world titlist fighting out of Ventura, California, is coming off a majority draw against former two-division titlist Devon Alexander in the main event of the last PBC on Fox show on Feb. 17 in a fight most thought Alexander won easily. Rios (34-4-1, 25 KOs), 32, a former lightweight titlist fighting out of Oxnard, California, is coming off a spirited effort in a ninth-round knockout loss to former two-division titlist Danny Garcia on Feb. 17 in a Showtime main event in Las Vegas. Ortiz is 1-1-1 in his last three fights and Rios is 1-2, and both have had lengthy layoffs in recent years.

Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer3d ago

Golden Boy Promotions and HBO are finalizing a tripleheader for July 21 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the promoter and network told ESPN on Wednesday. It would be headlined by junior middleweight world titlist Jaime Munguia (29-0, 25 KOs), 21, of Mexico, making his first defense against mandatory challenger and former titlist Liam Smith (26-1-1, 14 KOs), 29, of England. Smith was supposed to challenge Sadam Ali for the belt but dropped out because of illness and was replaced by Munguia, who knocked him out in the fourth round on May 12 and inherited the mandatory obligation. The co-feature would be junior lightweight world titlist Alberto Machado (19-0, 16 KOs), 27, of Puerto Rico, making his first defense against mandatory challenger Rafael Mensah (31-0, 23 KOs) of Ghana. The opener would be an all-southpaw middleweight bout between former two-time junior middleweight titlist Demetrius Andrade (25-0, 16 KOs), 30, of Providence, Rhode Island, and Brazil’s Yamaguchi Falcao (15-0, 7 KOs), 30, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist.

Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer4d ago

Welterweight world titlist Errol Spence Jr.’s second defense, a first-round knockout of mandatory challenger Carlos Ocampo in a homecoming fight Saturday night at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, was quick but averaged 683,000 viewers for Showtime’s live broadcast, according to Nielsen Media Research. The audience peaked at 726,000 for the 3-minute fight. That’s the third biggest average audience and peak audience for a fight on Showtime so far this year behind Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz and Adrien Broner-Jessie Vargas. Junior featherweight titlist Danny Roman’s lopsided decision over Moises Flores in the co-feature averaged 478,000 viewers and peaked at 547,000. The Adrian Granados-Javier Fortuna junior welterweight opener, which ended in a fourth-round no decision, averaged 396,000 viewers with a 441,000 peak.

Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer5d ago

Top Rank announced on Tuesday that it has signed former two-time interim junior lightweight titlist Bryan Vasquez (36-3, 20 KOs), 30, of Costa Rica. Vasquez has boxed on previous Top Rank cards, including a close majority decision loss to Ray Beltran last August. Vasquez bounced back for a win in February. The first fight of his Top Rank contract has not been set. “I feel really happy. I feel blessed to be signed by the biggest company in the sport of boxing,” said Vasquez, who is married to unified women’s junior middleweight titlist Hanna Gabriels. “I want to rule the 130-pound division. I'm ready for big names, whether it’s Christopher Diaz or (featherweight titlist) Oscar Valdez. They better watch out now that I'm with Top Rank. I will show everyone that Vasiliy Lomachenko is beatable, and in the near future, I want the rematch with Ray Beltran with proper notice now that I have a real promotional company behind me. I'm happy and motivated.”

Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer5d ago

With Dillian Whyte withdrawing from a heavyweight title elimination fight against Kubrat Pulev after the purse bid had been held to instead take a July 28 fight against former world titlist Joseph Parker, the IBF ordered Pulev and Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller to negotiate for the elimination fight that will produce one of the mandatory challengers for unified titlist Anthony Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) on Monday. But on Friday, the IBF said it received written notice from Pulev’s team declining to negotiate and asking for an immediate purse bid, which was scheduled for June 25 at noon at the sanctioning body offices in Springfield, New Jersey. The sides could still make a deal until 15 minutes before the bids are opened. Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs), 37, of Bulgaria, has won five fights in a row since suffering a fifth-round knockout loss challenging then-unified world champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. Miller (21-0-1, 18 KOs), 29, of Brooklyn, New York, beaten three former world title challengers in a row, Gerald Washington, Mariusz Wach and, most recently, Johann Duhaupas on April 28.

Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer8d ago

Scotland’s Ricky Burns (41-7-1, 14 KOs), 35, the only fighter from his country to win world titles in three divisions (junior welterweight, lightweight and junior lightweight) returns Saturday on the Matchroom Boxing card at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England, looking to shake off a two-fight losing skid in his 50th pro bout. Burns will face Ivan Njegac (10-5, 3 KO), 25, of Croatia, in a six-round junior welterweight fight. Burns lost both of his 2017 bouts by decision, losing his junior welterweight belt to Julius Indongo and a lightweight fight to ex-titlist Anthony Crolla. But Burns said he's aiming to win another title and to get his return off to a good start. “The Ricky Burns story is not finished just yet,” he said. “I’ve got no regrets in my career. I’ve lived it. I’m proud to say I’m a three-weight world champion and still think there’s a couple of big fights in me. That being said, I have a job to do on Saturday night for those to come to fruition.”

Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer9d ago