McDonnell hits the heights

Mark Butcher
01/09/2015 8:33am

Few anticipated the remarkable rise of Jamie McDonnell. In five dizzying years, the superbly conditioned bantamweight from Doncaster has won WBA, IBF, British, Commonwealth and European titles and would own the WBO crown, too, had the Puerto Rican organization not stripped its champion Tomoki Kameda shortly before McDonnell outhustled him in Hidalgo, Texas, in May. A high octane fighting style and a steely will to win has propelled McDonnell’s career to unlikely heights though, arguably, he is yet to receive the acknowledgement and accolades his many achievements deserve. “I’ve won absolutely everything,” said WBA bantamweight champion McDonnell, who faces Kameda in a lucrative rematch on 6 September at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. “I didn’t really know what [the British title] was when I first lost to Chris Edwards [in 2007]. I just knew I was getting a decent bit of money. But it’s ended up being a good story.”

Santa Cruz - Mares ringside recap

Michael Montero & Tiffany Lam
31/08/2015 1:35am

Highlights and analysis of the featherweight bout between Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares. The fight was part of a "PBC on ESPN" special, with a passionate crowd of over 13,000 fans packed inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Santa Cruz won by majority decision in a 'Fight Of The Year' candidate.

Latest World and British Ratings (September 2015)

Colin Harris
30/08/2015 1:12pm

Boxing Monthly’s World and British rankings for September 2015 are explained by Colin Harris, our in-house ratings statistician. Trainer, fighter, manager and promoter queries are welcome.

Tso wars again in Hong Kong homecoming

Mathew Scott
29/08/2015 4:55pm

The puzzle that is Rex Tso continued to build here Saturday as Hong Kong’s first pro fighter won his 18th straight bout, a left-right combination sending Australian Brad Hore to his knees with 2.54 gone in the seventh round for a TKO that added the WBC Asian Boxing Council super-flyweight title to Tso’s growing collection of belts. But Tso, also known in these parts as ‘The Wonder Kid’, left the crowd at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre doing exactly that – wondering – after he once again got drawn into scrapping early with the Aussie battler when the smarter plan would have been to simply outbox an opponent who was brave but outclassed.

Richmond tribute unveiled at Tom Cribb pub

Boxing Monthly
29/08/2015 6:19am

A permanent memorial to pioneering black boxer Bill Richmond (1763-1829) was unveiled by Earl George Percy at the Tom Cribb pub in Panton Street, London, on Wednesday. A plaque consisting of a portrait of Richmond and a summary of his amazing life and career now adorns the wall of the historic pub owned by Shepherd Neame brewery in recognition of Richmond’s position in history as the first black sportsman to achieve international fame and significance.

Santa Cruz-Mares breakdown

Jessi Jackalope
28/08/2015 10:12pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUd9-uia2zw

Jessi Jackalope analyses the intriguing 126lbs showdown between California rivals Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares that takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday. Can former three-weight champ Mares take the "0" of Santa Cruz?

Daley pursues Kalenga, another title shot

Shawn Smith
28/08/2015 9:06pm

On Saturday night, boxing returns to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, as United Promotions puts on another event headlined by locally ranked cruiserweight Denton Daley. Canadian Daley fought for the interim WBA world cruiserweight title in November 2014, losing via 12th round TKO to Youri Kalenga. “This is a fight [Daley] has to win if he wants that Kalenga rematch or another world title shot,” said United Promotions president Tyler Buxton. “He’s in the rankings to get that shot but he has to prove he can bounce back and make a statement.”

Mosley-Mayorga II prediction

Jessi Jackalope
28/08/2015 12:03am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBkI4oYoWOc

After a controversial promotion which has frequently touched the bizarre, Jessi Jackalope weighs up the Shane Mosley vs Ricardo Mayorga rematch at the Forum in Inglewood, California, on 29 August. Mosley knocked out Mayorga in the 12th round of their first fight back in September 2008.

Leo Santa Cruz interview

Michael Montero & Tiffany Lam
27/08/2015 12:40pm

Michael Montero caught up with Leo Santa Cruz at the media workouts for his eagerly-anticipated fight with California rival Abner Mares, which airs live as a "PBC on ESPN" special on Saturday 29 August from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. You can also view Montero's breakdown and prediction for the fight here.

The 10 greatest ever Boxing Monthly covers

Andrew Harrison
27/08/2015 2:40am

Andrew Harrison counts down the 10 greatest ever covers in Boxing Monthly's proud 26-year history. From Hopkins to Hamed to the heavyweights and more. We rewind the last quarter of the century to remember the moments that mattered as the pages turned in boxing history. Every cover is a poignant snapshot in the chronology of the sport we love and evokes the highs and lows, rises and falls of a generation of fighters great and good. Harrison describes young cover star Hamed as "visibly seething with the ambition that would eventually consume him – which served as most people’s initial handshake with a mercurial nineteen-year-old who would help to define the 90s. Chris Bevan’s pic personified the enfant terrible of British boxing: the leopard-skin shorts; the ‘I told you so’ glower and the first hint of a sneer flickering across his lips. Timeless."

Steel works for Spelman

Shaun Brown
26/08/2015 12:38pm

Steelworker Dec Spelman (4-0, 2 KOs), a light-heavyweight novice hailing from the industrial environs of Scunthorpe, found the gym in his early teens as an ideal place to get fit and nothing else. But before that ‘Kid Nytro’ dabbled in something that wasn’t quite football or rugby.