🇲🇽 Emmanuel Navarrete vs O'Shaquie Foster⚡️
#NavarreteFoster | Oct 24 | Live on DAZN.com/Homeofboxing
Showing posts with label 🥊. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 🥊. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 September 2026
UNIFIED SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 🥊 | NAVARETTE VS. FOSTER
Sunday, 30 August 2026
FILIP HRGOVIC CLAIMS HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE AS MOSES ITAUMA TAKEN TO HOSPITAL
 |
| Moses Itauma v Filip Hrgovic – The O2 Arena, © PA Wire/PA Images |
Moses Itauma was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure after his IBF world heavyweight title bid ended in a ninth-round stoppage by new champion Filip Hrgovic.
Itauma was carried from the ring on a stretcher following an explosive clash for the vacant belt at The O2 that saw Hrgovic become Croatia’s first champion in the division.
The 21-year-old from Kent was in complete command of the fight but had punched himself out in search of the knockout and was exhausted when referee Howard Foster came to his rescue with trainer Ben Davison also throwing in the towel.
“Moses has gone to the hospital for a check up,” promoter Frank Warren said.
“It’s precautionary that he’s gone to the hospital. That’s what we always do to make sure because the most important thing is the boxer’s health.
“He’s there and he’s in the best place. We’ll see what happens when I’ve got a report. We’ll obviously let everybody know.
“He’s done something to his leg as well and he was quite tired. It was a high paced, fast fight for both the guys. It was just edge of your seat stuff all the way through.”
 |
| Hrgovic and Itauma slugged it out in the final rounds (Steven Paston/PA) |
Itauma rained down blows on Hrgovic for the first seven rounds but the wily 34-year-old was able to soak up the punishment and then took control in the eighth and ninth rounds.
Showing a granite chin and enormous heart, he won the exchanges as the rivals went toe to toe and Itauma lurched across the ring until Foster intervened.
The clash had been billed ‘Witness History’ in anticipation of Itauma being crowned Britain’s youngest ever world heavyweight champion, but his career has stalled and Warren was unable to guarantee he would be back.
“I don’t know what he’s going to say,” Warren said. “I’m sure he’s a fighting man. He showed that right to the end. At the end, that’s the type of fight it was – they were standing there just letting bombs go.
 |
| Itauma started well but tired (Steven Paston/PA) |
“I don’t even know how he feels mentally. Mentally, he’s going to be completely down. We’re going to have to talk to him and lift him and see what he’s like.
“It’s going to take some time. He’s going to have a nice break. It’s not even the time to talk about it with him at the moment.
“It’s something we’re probably doing in two weeks or even a month’s time, see where we go with it.”
Hrgovic must now take on the IBF’s mandatory challenger Frank Sanchez, who was paid step aside money to enable him to face Itauma.
“I can’t believe it’s happening,” he said. My head is ringing from everything. It will take time for my feelings to settle. But I can’t believe that after 20 years I have my dream.
“God gave me the best possible gift to fight to win a world title against the best guy in the division. The most talented guy in the division. There is no better way for me to become a world champion.”
- Duncan Bech, Press Association
Thursday, 27 August 2026
GEORGE FOREMAN'S DRUGGED WATER CLAIM AGAINST ALI RESURFACES
Regis Prograis has drawn new attention to George Foreman’s allegation that he was drugged before losing to Muhammad Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle on October 30, 1974.
After reading about the story, Prograis presented it as a theory that the heavyweight championship fight may have been tampered with. He then asked older boxing followers for their opinions.
“It’s a theory that the fight was tampered with. For the older boxing guys what do yall think?” Prograis posted on X.
Foreman’s own account is more valuable than the theory raised by Prograis. The former heavyweight champion described receiving suspicious-tasting water shortly before the fight in his 2007 memoir, God in My Corner.
“Just before the fight with Ali, my trainer handed me a glass of liquid and said, ‘Here’s your water,’” Foreman wrote. “As I took a swig, I almost spit it out. ‘Hey, this water tastes like it has medicine in it.’”
Trainer Dick Sadler assured Foreman that it was the same water he had always received. The medicinal taste, Foreman said, remained when he went to the ring.
“After the third round, I was as tired as if I had fought 15 rounds,” Foreman wrote. “What’s going on here? Did someone slip a drug in my water?”
No test results or other evidence ever supported his account. Sadler died in 2003 and was unable to answer the version Foreman publicized four years later.
Ali Forced Foreman Beyond His Usual Script
Foreman had destroyed Joe Frazier in two rounds to win the heavyweight championship and stopped Ken Norton in the second. Those performances encouraged him to attack Ali with the same expectation of an early finish. Kinshasa produced a different fight. Foreman threw heavy punches from the opening bell, while Ali blocked shots with his arms, leaned away from others and struck him repeatedly with straight right hands. Many of Foreman’s widest punches either missed or landed without their full force.
Loose ropes helped Ali lean farther back, but the idea that Angelo Dundee deliberately loosened them remains disputed. Dundee complained about their condition and attempted to have them tightened. Ali still recognized how they could be used once the fight began.
That fatigue has a physical and tactical explanation without introducing an unidentified substance. Foreman maintained a knockout pace against an opponent who refused to disappear, forcing him to work longer than Frazier or Norton had.
Over time, his explanations for the loss included the loose ropes, referee Zack Clayton’s count and dissatisfaction with his corner. The drugged-water story later became the most serious of them.
By the eighth round, Foreman’s punches had lost much of their force. Ali landed a fast combination and dropped him for the knockout. Prograis has revived an old piece of boxing folklore, but the film continues to show Ali winning through cleaner punching, patience and control of Foreman’s aggression.
Muhammad Ali watches as George Foreman lies on the canvas during their heavyweight championship fight in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974. Foreman later alleged that his pre-fight water contained an unidentified substance. Photo: El Gráfico/Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
- Boxing News 24 Desk
Saturday, 22 August 2026
FORMER TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION ZOLANI TETE DIES IN SHOOTING
 |
| LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 02: Zolani Tete celebrates with the IBF International and Commonwealth Super Bantamweight belt after knocking out Jason Cunningham in the IBF International and Commonwealth Super Bantamweight Title fight between Jason Cunningham and Zolani Tete at OVO Arena Wembley on July 02, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images) | Getty Images |
South African authorities announced that former titlist Zolani Tete, 38, was fatally shot outside of his home in Mdantsane today.
Per the country's Ministry of Sport, Arts, and Culture, "[t]wo armed men in balaclavas" shot Tete and a female companion as Tete waited at his gate. The companion remains hospitalized, while Tete himself passed away.
Tete lost his first title bid to countryman Moruti Mthalane in 2010, kicking off a 3-3 skid, but came out the other side on an absolute tear. He felled Teiru Kinoshita in hostile territory to claim the IBF super flyweight title four years later, then knocked out Paul Butler in his first and only defense before moving up to 118. There, he won the later-upgraded interim WBO belt against Arthur Villanueva and made three successful defense, one of which earned him the fastest knockout in championship history when he sparked Siboniso Gonya with his very first punch. An upset loss to John Riel Casimero lost him the belt, but after two years on the sidelines and a 55-second get-well knockout in South Africa, he put himself right into super bantamweight contention by blowing the doors off of Jason Cunningham.
That would unfortunately mark his final time in the ring. A failed drug test for stanozolol wiped that win off his record and resulted in a four-year suspension, which only expired last month.
Tete will be remembered as a terrific, hugely accomplished fighter, highly entertaining and a true standout in the lower weight classes. Our thoughts are with his friends and family after this horrific tragedy.
- Patrick Stumberg
Wednesday, 19 August 2026
FURY-JOSHUA HEADS TO NEW YORK AS WHITE AND HEARN CLASH PUBLICLY
Key points:
- Dana White gave his strongest signal yet that Fury vs Joshua lands at Madison Square Garden on November 20
- White launched a heated public attack on Eddie Hearn after being told Hearn still wants the fight in the UK
- Hearn has argued Joshua’s contract requires a UK venue and has discussed possible legal action
- Joshua’s approval is still technically required before the venue becomes official
The months-long tug-of-war over where Anthony Joshua finally fights Tyson Fury boiled into open conflict this week, with Dana White all but confirming a New York venue before turning his frustration directly on Eddie Hearn.
Told the fight had been agreed for Friday, November 20, White responded with a knowing “Interesting.” Pressed on Madison Square Garden specifically, he added, “If that’s what the word is, then that must be it.” White seemed less uncertain about the location than simply unwilling to make the formal announcement himself, growing irritated when a reporter questioned his role in the promotion. “You might want to ask the promoters of the fight,” he said. “I’m not going to play these games with these [expletive] guys.”
The real anger surfaced when White was told Hearn still wants the fight in Britain and had discussed legal action over TKO’s dealings with Madison Square Garden. “I have not. I stopped listening to Eddie Hearn about three months ago,” White said. “Is there anybody more full of [expletive] than this guy?” Hearn responded in kind, accusing White of exaggerating his own role in the venue negotiations.
What White’s outburst didn’t address is the contractual question underneath all of it: Joshua reportedly signed for a fight in Britain, and his approval is still required before Madison Square Garden becomes official. Madison Square Garden clearly suits Netflix, allowing a Friday night broadcast in American primetime away from college football and NFL competition, but it would leave British fans watching an overnight fight rather than the Wembley occasion many expected for years.
- BBN Editor
Tuesday, 11 August 2026
CRIME BOSS WHO LIVED LIFE OF LUXURY TREATED DRUG LORDS TO ANTHONY JOSHUA TICKETS
As the net closed in on him, Khalid Ege fled the country and spent six years on the run before being caught trying to cross a border with "false papers"
 |
| Khalid Ege from Cardiff was sentenced to 12 years in prison for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs(Image: Tarian) |
The head of an organised crime group was arrested after six years on the run as he travelled through South American using false documents, a court has heard. Khalid Ege had fled Wales after the net began to close on his cocaine dealing empire.
His criminal business had seen him splashing out on VIP treatment at a posh London bar and tickets to see an Anthony Joshua boxing match at the O2 Area in order to impress his contacts in the underworld.
The 50-year-old was eventually arrested as he crossed the border between Colombia and Paraguay and was brought back to Wales to face justice. He has now been locked up for 12 years.
Kevin Jones, prosecuting, told Merthyr Crown Court that Edge was the last person to be sentenced as a result of a complex police investigation into the large-scale trafficking of Class A drugs into southern Wales. He said the supply network had seen multiple and distinct organised crime groups or OCGs based around the UK working together to form a "drug consortium" which was responsible for the large-scale, commercial supply of cocaine.
 |
| He was sentenced at Merthyr Crown Court(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne) |
The prosecutor said Khalid was the head of the south Wales OCG and sourced multiple kilos of high-purity cocaine from his "upstream suppliers" in Liverpool and the Midlands for onward distribution throughout the valleys. He said as an indication of the scale of the operation, when Khalid's courier was intercepted by police as he was returning to Cardiff he was was found to be transporting five kilos of cocaine worth up to half-a-million pounds on the streets. He said that return journey was one of eight which the courier had made at the behest of his boss.
The court heard that members of the Liverpool OCG were linked to a drugs laboratory in the Birkenhead area and sourced equipment and cutting agents from suppliers in China. Those materials were used to process and adulterate illicit drugs before onward distribution around the UK, including to south Wales.
The court heard that the police operation into the drugs network - codename Operation Vermont - included extensive covert surveillance of suspects and tracking of vehicles. The operation revealed multiple face-to-face meetings between various leading members of the crime gangs as well as phone contact, financial links, and DNA and fingerprint evidence linking the conspirators with packages of drugs.
The prosecutor said covert officers were present in London when Khalid hosted an "extravagant" meeting with the heads of the Liverpool crime gang in October 2019 . He said the Cardiff dealer treated the Merseysiders' to hospitality in a VIP area at a Mayfair bar before the group attended the Anthony Joshua boxing match London's O2 Arena, tickets for which cost £1,400 each. The barrister said the purpose of the event was for Khalid to demonstrate that "he was able to swim in the same waters" as his powerful criminal contacts.
 |
| Merthyr Crown Court(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne) |
The court heard that following the arrest of a number of his co-conspirators, Ege fled the UK in December 2019 in an attempt to evade justice. The defendant remained a fugitive until December 2025 when he was detained crossing the border from Colombia into Paraguay using a false passport and identity documents. Crucially, he was also found to be carrying his real - albeit expired - British passport which revealed his true identity.
The court heard Ege was sent back to Colombia and was then transferred to Spain in the custody of National Crime Agency from where he was extradited back to the UK.
Khalid Ege, of no fixed abide, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Jonathan Rees KC, for Ege, invited the court to find a distinction could be drawn between the "astronomical" amounts of drugs the Liverpool gang had been involved in, and the amounts being handled by his client who - he said - was a "local distributor". He said if the Liverpool gang members had been "Premier League", the defendant was "Championship at best, if not League One".
Judge Jeremy Jenkins told the defendant he had been involved sourcing cocaine on an "industrial scale" for onward distribution around south Wales, including to another organised crime group based in Merthyr.
The judge said as police began to arrest the co-conspirators the defendant had fled from the jurisdiction and said it wasn't until December last year that he was caught in South America using "false papers". He said "fortunately for the authorities", Ege had also been carrying his real British passport.
With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, Ege was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He will serve half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Judge Jenkins praised the dedication shown by police in what had been a "monumental case".
Speaking after the sentencing detective inspector Andrew Gibbins of Tarian - the southern Wales serious and organised crime squad - said: "Operation Vermont has been one of the largest and most complex investigations into the supply of illicit drugs ever undertaken by Tarian.
"The investigation resulted in the arrest and conviction of a significant number of individuals operating across Wales, England and Scotland, and involved extensive collaboration with policing and law enforcement partners both within the UK and overseas. This included two extraditions from Spain and international enquiries spanning China and South America.
"Today's sentence marks the conclusion of a lengthy investigation and demonstrates our determination to pursue those involved in organised criminality, no matter how far they travel or how long they seek to evade justice.
"Tarian remains committed to identifying, disrupting and bringing to justice those responsible for causing harm to our communities. Whether you are directing an organised crime group, supplying drugs, producing them, transporting them, or carrying out any other role within a criminal network, we will pursue every available line of enquiry to hold you accountable for your actions.
"The significant sentences handed down throughout Operation Vermont reflect the scale of the criminality involved and our unwavering commitment to protecting communities across southern Wales."
A total of 32 co-conspirators have previously been sentenced as part of Operation Vermont, with their sentencings taking place between November 2022 and April 2023. In total they have received combined custodial sentences totalling more than 256 years.
- Ashley Pemberton and Jason Evans
Wednesday, 5 August 2026
RAHMAN AND MUHAMMAD ALI IN LONDON | 1966
Rahman and Muhammad Ali walking past Marble Arch, London, after their roadwork in Hyde Park in preparation for the Brian London fight scheduled for August 6th 1966.
Tuesday, 4 August 2026
MOSES ITAUMA AND FILIP HRGOVIC TO FIGHT FOR VACANT IBF TITLE, FRANK SANCHEZ PAID TO STEP ASIDE
 |
| Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic square up on June 22, 2026 |
Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic, set to collide on August 29 at London, England’s O2 Arena, will now be fighting for the vacant IBF heavyweight title.
No. 3-ranked Itauma, 14-0 (12 KOs), had been ordered by the sanctioning body to face leading IBF contender, Frank Sanchez, after the bout with Hrgovic had already been signed and announced. And with the Croatian rated fourth by the organization, it has been agreed that they can instead do battle for the belt on the condition that the winner meets Sanchez in their first defense.
“We paid [Sanchez] some money,” promoter Frank Warren told the BBC. “We said whoever wins the fight, you’re not losing out and you’ll get the opportunity to fight for the title against the winner.”
The 34-year-old Cuban, 26-1 (19 KOs), had achieved mandatory status with the IBF by knocking out Richard Torrez Jnr in two rounds in May.
Hrgovic, 20-1 (15 KOs), is riding a three-fight win streak – beating Joe Joyce, David Adeleye and Dave Allen – and is regarded as 21-year-old Itauma’s toughest test to date.
Presuming Itauma-Hrgovic isn’t a draw, it means that Warren’s Queensberry Promotions – who handle both Itauma and Hrgovic, as well as WBC boss Agit Kabayel and WBO beltholder Daniel Dubois – will promote three of the four heavyweight beltholders come the end of the month. The WBA titlist, Murat Gassiev, had previously been expected to face Itauma later in the year.
"A lot of people have high expectations of [Itauma] as I have, by the way," Warren said. "We signed him when he was 16. He was an amateur. We sponsored him, and he turned professional with us.
"And he's been amazing and sort of taken the world by storm.”
The influx of heavyweight beltholders can of course be explained by Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to relinquish his three titles in June. Though the 39-year-old is plotting one last fight – likely against Deontay Wilder – the Ukrainian’s days of fighting elite opposition are over, it seems.
Kabayel and Gassiev saw their statuses rise by virtue of Usyk’s decision to step down. Dubois defeated Fabio Wardley to claim his belt after Wardley was handed the championship when Usyk gave up the WBO title last year.
The winner of Itauma-Hrgovic will be the first to claim one of Usyk’s old belts in the ring.
- BoxingScene
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)