Boxing

Jul 20, 2023, 11:07 AM ET While a unification bout at Wembley against Tyson Fury is no longer on the cards, Oleksandr Usyk could still compete under the lights after swapping his boxing gloves for football boots and signing a contract with Ukrainian club, Polissya. Heavyweight champion Usyk, who trained as a footballer with Ukraine’s

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJul 19, 2023, 05:17 PM ET Errol Spence Jr. said a coin flip will determine who will walk out second when he meets Terence Crawford for the undisputed welterweight championship on July 29 in Las Vegas. Spence, who holds the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, will battle Crawford, the WBO champion, for welterweight

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJul 19, 2023, 04:50 PM ET Luis Alberto Lopez will defend his IBF featherweight title vs. Joet Gonzalez on Sept. 15 in Corpus Christi, Texas, sources told ESPN. Lopez, ESPN’s top boxer at 126 pounds, will headline a Top Rank on ESPN show for the first time in the U.S. The 29-year-old Mexican

Andres Waters Jul 19, 2023, 08:03 AM ET After years of buildup, ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound men’s boxer, Terence Crawford and No. 4 Errol Spence Jr., will finally square off on Saturday, July 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, in one of the most anticipated fights in men’s boxing. The 12-round fight for Spence’s

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJul 14, 2023, 06:20 PM ET Boxing star Gervonta Davis was released from a Baltimore jail on Friday, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services confirmed to ESPN. Davis, 28, served 44 days at a detention center after a judge ruled on June 1 that he violated the

Mike Coppinger Ben Baby Close Ben Baby ESPN Staff Writer Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for

INDIANAPOLIS — As the clock ticked past midnight on the evening of July 23, 2022, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay found himself in something of a sudden-death scenario. Even after his decades-long association with the NFL, this was a nail-biter unlike any Irsay had ever experienced. Irsay and another persistent bidder were squaring off in

Mark Kriegel, ESPNDec 4, 2019, 10:44 AM ET Editor’s note: This was originally published ahead of Crawford’s fight against Jeff Horn on June 9, 2018. Crawford fights Errol Spence Jr. for the undisputed welterweight championship on July 29. OMAHA, Neb. — Grover Wiley was 25, six years into a pro career that would see him

Jeff Wagenheim Nov 12, 2020, 06:57 AM ET The elevator door slid open and out walked Terence Crawford. Despite being the best boxer in the world, the 5-foot-8, 147-pound Crawford does not cast an imposing figure, not in the way a hulking heavyweight might draw eyeballs. But he embodies the swagger of a prizefighter who

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJul 13, 2023, 03:03 PM ET Boxer Devin Haney was arrested Thursday morning in Los Angeles and booked on a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle, a Los Angeles Police Department information officer told ESPN. Haney was released on $35,000 bail, according to Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Court Records.

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJul 11, 2023, 02:57 PM ET Heavyweight contender Jared Anderson will return on Aug. 26 vs. Andriy Rudenko, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. The ESPN main event will be Anderson’s second fight in less than 60 days. Earlier that day, Oleksandr Uysk’s unified heavyweight title defense vs. Daniel Dubois in Wroclaw, Poland, will

This article has been updated after originally being published in April 2022, following an appearance together in the ring by Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou after a Fury victory over Dillian Whyte. A boxing match between Fury and Ngannou was announced on July 11. Tyson Fury is the greatest heavyweight in the world. Francis Ngannou

Nick ParkinsonJul 11, 2023, 09:00 AM ET Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Josh Kelly insists his boxing career is in the best health yet since he has overcome his struggles with hypochondria. Kelly (13-1-1,

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJul 11, 2023, 09:13 AM ET Tyson Fury, boxing’s lineal heavyweight champion, and Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, will fight Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, sources told ESPN. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman didn’t respond to a text message asking if Fury’s WBC heavyweight title will be on the line. The

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJul 9, 2023, 01:10 AM ET Rising star Jaron “Boots” Ennis remained undefeated with a 10th-round KO of Roiman Villa on Saturday in a welterweight fight in Atlantic City, N.J. Ennis (31-0, 18 KOs) dazzled with his ultra-quick hands and quick-twitch movement before he planted Villa on the canvas with a pair of

Jeff Wagenheim Jul 7, 2023, 07:14 AM ET Las Vegas is the Fight Capital of the World. That title is undisputed. Half a century ago, casino operators figured out that championship boxing would draw high rollers to ringside. And before and after the fights, to the gambling halls. Ever since, many of the sport’s biggest

Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff WriterJul 6, 2023, 04:02 PM ET Close Michael Rothstein is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Rothstein covers the Atlanta Falcons. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein. Shadasia Green, ESPN’s No. 2 super middleweight, will fight Olivia Curry in a 10-round bout as part of the Jake Paul-Nate Diaz

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJul 6, 2023, 01:19 PM ET Vergil Ortiz Jr. has withdrawn from Saturday’s welterweight fight against Eimantas Stanionis in San Antonio, Golden Boy Promotions announced Thursday. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our fighters, and we of course support Vergil’s decision 100%,” Golden Boy Promotions said in a statement. “This unfortunate