259 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Yuri Tarantin byline.
Every story follows our editorial policy. To report a mistake, use our corrections form; for anything else, contact us.
The manager of WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, Oleg Hermann, discussed the circumstances which led Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to reject a proposal to face Golovkin on July 19th in an HBO Pay-Per-View fight, and also the recent challenge coming from WBO champion Peter Quillin. According to Chavez, he turned down the fight because he didn't want to accept a deal which extended his promotional agreement with Top Rank.
Negotiations for Ruslan Provodnikov's next fight has been ongoing for two rounds, according to the WBO champion's manager Vadim Kornilov. Provodnikov (23-2, 16KOs) is scheduled to make the first defense of his title on June 14th. Several names have been mentioned over the last few weeks, including Brandon Rios, Antonio DeMarco and Hank Lundy, but Kornilov says undefeated Chris Algieri (19-0, 8KOs) is potentially going to be the HBO televised opponent.
WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (23-0-1, 21KOs) is full focused on his upcoming assignment, a March 29th defense against Cedric Agnew. If Kovalev is successful, he will move another step forward to a unification with WBC champion Adonis Stevenson (23-1, 20KOs), who likely returns on May 24th against Andrzej Fonfara.
On the 12th of April at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao will face WBO welterweight king Timothy Bradley. Last year, Provodnikov lost a close twelve round decision to Bradley in a "Fight of The Year" battle. Provodnikov, who like Pacquiao is trained by Freddie Roach, was actually in the running to face the Filipino superstar.
Vadim Kornilov, manager of WBO junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov, says he is not surprised by the recent news that Juan Manuel Marquez is in serious negotiations to fight Mike Alvarado on May 17th at the Forum in Inglewood, California. For weeks, Provodnikov has been calling for a fight with Marquez. The Mexican star told several outlets that he doesn't see any reason to face Provodnikov. But now Marquez is heading in the direction of a fight with Alvarado, who Provodnikov battered and stopped last October.
Last week it was announced that the world light heavyweight champion of the WBO, 30-year-old Russian boxer Sergei Kovalev (23-0-1, 21KOs), would defend his belt against 27-year-old American Cedric Agnew (26-0, 13KOs) on March 29th in Atlantic City. Kovalev's manager, Egis Klimas, said it was very difficult to get an opponent for the March date, because a lot of fighters turned them down and the pickings were very slim to find someone who the WBO, and HBO, would approve.
WBO/IBO/WBA/IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (61-3, 51KOs) is not overlooking the challenge of mandatory challenger Alex Leapai (30-4-3, 24KOs). The fight is scheduled for April 26th at the Koenig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany. Wladimir disputes reports that state there is a lack of interest in the fight. He says more than 7,000 tickets were sold on the first day. The venue holds 12,650.
The manager of the WBO junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov is looking at the possibility of getting his fighter in the ring with former champion Brandon Rios in either May or June. Vadim Kornilov says Rios is a serious possibility for them, but the Mexican slugger would have to get down to 140-pounds and also take part in a random drug test protocol with VADA. In his last fight, Rios moved up to welterweight and lost a twelve round decision to Manny Pacquiao. After the match, Rios tested positive for a banned substance.
Russian promoter Vladimir Hryunov is already working on a middleweight fight between undefeated Dmitry Chudinov (12-0-2, 8KOs) of Russia and Jarrod Fletcher (18-1, 10KOs)of Australia, which Hryunov wants to stage on March 22nd in Moscow. Earlier this month in Monte Carlo, Fletcher scored an upset twelve round decision over Chudinov's countryman, Max Bursak, to capture the vacant WBA International middleweight title. Hryunov hopes to finalize the deal in the coming days.
Lightweight puncher Ivan Redkach (16-0, 13KOs) is looking at a potential June 7th return on the Miguel Cotto-Sergio Martinez undercard, being negotiated to take place at New York's Madison Square Garden. Cotto-Martinez is reportedly close to a deal. Redkach had a tough task on Friday, winning a ten round unanimous decision over Tony Luis in Tennessee.