Canelo Alvarez v Anvi Yildirim

Canelo is returning to the ring just 2 months after defeating Callum Smith in December and is looking to set up a fight later in the year with Billy Joe Saunders.

What time does the fight start and where is it?

Estimated ring walk times are 3am UK time , 10pm ET 

This fight will take place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami

Where to watch and Live Stream

Dazn are broadcasting this fight in the UK , you can sign up to Dazn for just £1.99 a month

Who is on the undercard?

Julio Cesar Martinez vs McWilliams Arroyo 

(WBC World Flyweight title)

Zhilei Zhang vs Jerry Forrest 

(Heavyweight)

Diego Pacheco vs Rodolfo Gomez Jr

(Super Middleweight)

Alex Espino vs Ashton Sykes

(Super Middleweight)

Marc Castro vs Raul Corona 

(Super Featherweight)

Aaron Aponte vs Harry Gigliotti

(Super Lightweight)

Keyshawn Davis vs Lester Brown 

(Lightweight)

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 David Avanesyan v Josh Kelly fight night review

A fight 3 years in the making did not disappoint with Avanesyan stopping Josh Kelly in the 6th round

In the main event of the evening, A fight 3 years in the making, European Champion David Avanesyan came up against Rio 2016 Olympian Josh Kelly.

'PBK' Josh Kelly looked a very much improved fighter, in the opening round using his fast hands and his boxing ability to duck and weave his way round the Russian with him picking his punches well.

David started to work the body well looking to the sting and speed out of Kelly's punches which would work well.

Kelly suffered a big cut on the back of his head and around his eye and started to slow down.

Avanesyan scored a big knock down in the sixth round, Kelly managed to beat the count but Avanesyan pounced on Josh keep the pressure on him and as a result Adam Booth threw the towel in for Kelly. 

Avanesyan retains his European title and now will be looking to put himself back up at world level.

A defeat for Kelly in just his 12th pro fight leaves him questioning where he goes next.

In the chief support Albanian Florian Marku stopped Rylan Charlton in an exciting fight with two unbeaten fighters

The two fighters had a lot to say in the build up with both Marku and Charlton confident of getting the win.

The opening round was fairly even with Charlton coming forward straight from the bell .As the fight went on Markus skill began to show with him finding openings with a wide range of shots.

Charlton got knocked down in the 4th and and looked unsteady on his feet with Marku coming forward looking to finish the fight but Charlton was saved by the bell.

Marku was taunting Charlton during the fight shouting 'Nothing' every time Rylan landed a shot but he soon stopped after a big left hook sent Marku to the canvas in the 6th round. However Marku continued to land and had a brave Charlton hurt in the 8th round with his corner throwing in the towel.

Marku moved to 8-0-1 with the win and went on to call out Conor Benn after the fight.

In another British v Mexican fight, Gabriel Valenzuela was victorious over Robbie Davies Jr.

Davies was knocked down in the third , boxing southpaw but looked really uncomfortable.

The holes in Davies Jr's defence looked obvious and was knocked down in the 3rd , boxing in the southpaw stance and looked really uncomfortable.

Davies Jr had more success as the fight went on but Valenzuela continued with his relentless pressure and tried to take the brit out in the final round.

A good performance by another relentless Mexican , Valenzuela managed to get a majority decision win over a experienced Davies Jr.

the scorecards read 95-95 94-94 95-96

Johnny Fishers much anticipated Heavyweight debut ended in a big KO in the first round over Matt Gordon.

With only a handful of amateur fights Fisher was looking to impress in front of a Tv audience.

Johnny made quick work of his opponent Matt Gordon with him scoring a knockdown in  the first with the ropes keeping Gordon up. Then fisher dropped Gordon again with a big right hand with the ref stopping the fight after Gordon looked unsteady on his feet.

Jordan 'The Thrill' Gill opened the show with an excellent performance over a tough Cesar Juarez

Juarez put the pressure in the whole fight constantly coming forward , but Gill boxed perfectly showcasing his skills against the Mexican winning on the scorecards, 98-92 , 98-93, 96-94.

"It was a very tough test" said Gill who now moves to 26-1 and will be hoping to get some bigger fights later this year.

It was a very professional performance by Gill who is improving with every fight and id like to see him fighting for world honours in the coming years.

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David Avanesyan v Josh Kelly Preview 

    Josh Kelly takes on David Avanesyan for the European Welterweight title a fight 3 years in the making

This fight was originally scheduled for the 8th of December 2018 but was called off the night before the fight with Kelly pulling out due to an illness. The second fight was set for March 28th 2019 and the third fight was set for January 2021 but both were postponed due to Covid-19.

Kelly (10-0-1) hasn't fought since December 2019 with a points victory over Winston Campos in America. However Avanesyan also hasn't fought since December 2019 with a first round knockout victory over Jose Del Rio. 

Rio 2016 Olympian Josh Kelly is looking to set up a fight with British Rival Conor Benn if he is successful in this fight.

Prediction ; Kelly KO 7-9

Florian Marku v Rylan Charlton 

In potentially the fight of the undercard , Albanian Marku fights undefeated Rylan Charlton.

Charlton most recently stopped prospect Joe Laws in 3 rounds and was signed by Matchroom shortly after.

Both fighters are looking for the knockout in this bout. Marku claiming he will win by knockout '100 percent'.

Marku former MMA fighter has won 7 of his 8 fights with a draw the only blemish on his record and is managed by Sam Jones who also manages Heavyweight Joe Joyce.

Prediction; Charlton KO 4-6

Jordan Gill v Cesar Juarez

Jordan Gill is looking to continue his run of victories against Mexican Cesar Juarez who is coming off 2 losses. Gill most recently defeated Reece Bellotti in the first fight of Matchroom's Fight Camp in the summer. 'The Thrill' has only one career defeat against another Mexican in Mario Tinoco.

Prediction ; Gill Points

Robbie Davies Jr v Gabriel Valenzuela 

Liverpool man Robbie Davies Jr comes up against Mexican Valenzuela in another British v Mexican fight on the bill. Davies only has 2 defeats in career with one against Lewis Ritson in My fight of 2019 and one of the fights of the year in a lot of peoples eyes.

Prediction ; Davies Jr KO 7-9

Heavyweight prospect Johnny Fisher is making his highly anticipated Heavyweight debut on the undercard. 'The Romford Bull' is trained by Mark Tibbs former trainer of Dillian Whyte. In his amateur career Fisher scored 9 first round knockout wins in 10 fights and he is also managed by Sam Jones.

Prediction ; Fisher KO 1-3

You can catch the action on Saturday night from 7pm on Sky Sports.

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Josh Warrington suffers shock defeat to Mauricio Lara

Josh Warrington suffered a career first defeat to Mauricio Lara after getting knocked out in the ninth round

Warrington looked in control in the first 3 rounds but both fighters looked leaky in their defence. Lara wobbled Josh in the fourth round then a massive left hand sent Warrington down to the canvas. Warrington struggled to his feet and somehow managed to survive the round.

The pair were trading shots again in the fifth with Warrington looking to get back in the fight but never looked like he fully recovered.

In the ninth another massive left hand from Lara sent Warrington down for the second time with the referee waving the fight off . Lara handed Josh his first defeat of his career with Lara moving to 22-2 and Warrington now with a record of 30-1. 

After the fight Eddie Hearn confirmed there is a rematch clause in the contract.

Zelfa Barrett defeated a strong and relentless Kiko Martinez in a somewhat surprising result with the wide scorecards of 118-111 twice and 116-113.

Kiko was coming forward the whole fight and troubled Barrett in the second. Kiko won the majority of the opening rounds in my opinion with Barrett finishing strong in the later rounds. 

The scorecards came as a shock to everyone with it looking a very close fight but not as wide as the scorecards suggest.

"That's my style of boxing , putting pressure on and hit and move " Said Barrett after his win 

"I got cut for the first time and it threw me off but we move on , I got the win. The fight was close and it depends on what you like to see. Some people like pressure , some like boxing. I just did what I was told and listened to my uncle."

Barrett Moves to 25-1 with Martinez now 41-10-2

Wood defeats Mould to capture British Featherweight title

In the fight of the night Leigh Wood drops Mould Twice on the way to a stoppage victory over the Yorkshireman.

This was Woods first fight under new trainer Ben Davison and was boxing well controlling the fight , putting Mould down in the fourth but Mould got up and managed to make it to the end of the round.

Mould was forcing the action in round 8 and was maintaining a busy work rate but Wood landed a massive left hook in the ninth dropping Mould for the second time in the fight, Mould rose to his feet but Wood went on the attack with a barrage of punches sending Mould down again with the ref stopping the fight.

Wood is now the British Featherweight Champion winning the belt on his second attempt.

Exciting young prospect Dalton Smith moved to 7-0 against Ishmael Ellis

Dalton Smith was picking his shots perfectly and looked way above this level and levels above Ellis.

Smith dominated the fight with Ellis's corner pulling him out at the end of round 3.

Amateur star Hopey Price was also in action against Daniel Mendoza. Mendoza hadn't won any of his seven previous fights and was dominated in a one sided shut out victory for Price winning 60-54 on the scorecards. 

Ibrahim Nadim moved to 3-0 with a points victory over Jonny Phillips

The fight started very evenly with neither fighter controlling the fight although Phillips landed a right hand flush in the first round.

Phillips was urging Nadim forward trying to get the 21 year old to have a toe to toe fight but Nadim didn't take the bait and carried on boxing professionally.

Ricky Hatton trainer of Nadim was urging his fighter to land big shots as he thought Phillips was looking tired.

In the final round Phillips came out fast looking for a knockout but ultimately Nadim was too fast and slick for Jonny.

Nadim won 60-55 on the scorecards moving to 3-0

 Josh Warrington v Mauricio Lara Full Card Preview

Boxing returns to the UK for the first time since December 2020 with Josh Warrington headlining an entertaining night of boxing.

Warrington is coming up against a fairly unknown fighter in Lara, but a win could set up a much anticipated fight with WBA Featherweight World Champion Can Xu later this year. Warrington has recently vacated his IBF World title in search of bigger fights and is coming off a victory over Sofiane Takoucht in October 2019 but hasn't fought since due to COVID-19, Mauricio Lara has been fairly active over the last year having 4 bouts and winning them all.

My Prediction :Warrington will be far too fast and strong for Lara and will stop him in rounds 4-6.

In arguably the match up of the night Leigh Wood faces Reece Mould for the vacant British Featherweight title. Mould has a perfect record of 13-0 with 6 coming by way of knockout but has never faced anyone of Woods experience and calibre. Wood has been in the ring with the likes of Gavin McDonnell, Ryan Doyle and James Dickens. He has also recently linked up with new trainer Ben Davison.

My Prediction :Wood to win by KO mid to late rounds.

In another highly anticipated fight Zelfa Barrett (24-1) faces a very experienced Kiko Martinez. Kiko has been in the ring with world class fighters such as Carl Frampton , Scott Quigg , Leo Santa Cruz and Josh Warrington. This will be a real test for Barrett , he will be looking to add to his previous 5 consecutive wins here with a good performance and get his name mentioned at World level.

My Prediction: Barrett to win on points. 

Promising fighter Dalton Smith will be looking to add another victory to his record when he faces Ishmael Ellis (11-3) . Smith so far has won all 6 of his professional fights with 5 by KO but this fight will be a step up for him in his professional career.

My Prediction :Smith to win by KO rounds 1-3.

Amateur star Hopey Price is returning to ring for the first time since appearing on the Joshua v Ruiz rematch card in Saudi Arabia 14 months ago. Price currently has a perfect record of 3 wins and is trained by Dave Coldwell.

My Prediction : Price to win by KO rounds 1-3.

 

Catch the action on Sky Sports from 7pm on Saturday night

Full Card

Josh Warrington (30-0) v Mauricio Lara (21-2)

Leigh Wood (23-2) v Reece Mould (13-0) 

Zelfa Barrett (24-1) v Kiko Martinez (41-9-2)

Dalton Smith (6-0) v Ishmael Ellis (11-3)

Hopey Price (3-0) v Zahid Hussain (16-1)

Ibrahim Nadim (2-0) v Jonny Phillips (5-5)

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Latest Boxing News 

Daniel Dubois set to appoint Mark Tibbs as new trainer

Daniel Dubois has decided to part ways with trainer Martin Bowers following his loss to Joe Joyce. 

Heavyweight prospect Dubois suffered his first loss of his career last year in a battle with Joe Joyce and hasn't fought since, due to an eye injury. Bowers will remain in his role and Daniels manager.

Mark Tibbs who is the former trainer of Heavyweight Dillian Whyte, now trains WBO Super-middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders.

Other News

The WBO have ordered purse bids on Wednesday February 10th for Demetrius Andrade's mandatory defence of his WBO Middleweight title against Liam Williams 

Eddie Hearn has said he wants to make the Scott Fitzgerald v Anthony Fowler rematch in July/August. 

Hearn is also looking to make Derek Chisora v Joseph Parker in July if Parker beats Junior Fa on February 27th.

Joshua Buatsi looks likely for a return at the end of April according to Eddie Hearn.

Lewis Ritson has been ordered to fight an IBF final eliminator vs Jeremias Ponce which would make the winner mandatory for Josh Taylor.

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Exclusive interview with Nottingham's Leigh Wood 

Leigh Wood fights Reece Mould Live on Sky Sports February 13th

Leigh Wood (23-2) who fights out of Gedling , Nottingham is preparing for a must win British Title fight over Reece Mould. This is Leigh's first fight in almost a year after losing a very close fight to James Dickens in the Semi Finals of the  MTK Golden Contract Tournament in February last year.

MTK Golden Contract Tournament

Leigh entered the Golden Contract Tournament in 2019 alongside 7 other fighters with the likes of Ryan Walsh , James Dickens and David Oliver Joyce.

In the Draw for the Tournament the fighters each chose a ball which would determine who would face who. Leigh managed to get the first pick and surprisingly chose David Oliver Joyce who at the time had a record off 11 wins and 0 losses also being one of the favourites for the tournament.

In a thrilling encounter Wood stopped Joyce in the 9th round after putting him down in the 2nd round then again in the 7th to advance to the semi finals.

He then faced off with eventual winner James Dickens in the semi final and lost a close fought fight by MD.

Upcoming fight with Reece Mould 

Leigh fights Reece Mould on February 13th for the vacant British Featherweight title and I asked him some questions leading up to the fight.

Question: - First of all Leigh , how is everything training wise since moving to Ben Davison and do you think he will bring the best out of you?

Leigh :- "Things are great , at first I was really out my comfort zone but everything's now clicked together and I feel its the best move I have made in my career."

Question: - Looking ahead to your next fight against Reece Mould . how do you see the fight going and do you expect it to be of your toughest fights to date?

Leigh: "I'm expecting a hard fight but one I am extremely confident of winning "

Question: -Without over looking Mould , what's next for Leigh Wood if you are victorious on February 13th?

Leigh : -" I'm not too sure , I may push on for a World title , box an eliminator or an international title to get a better ranking. We will see , I'm  not taking my eyes off the Mould Fight"

You can catch Leigh Wood in action next Saturday Live on Sky Sports from 7pm

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 Robbie Davies Jr vs Gabriel Valenzuela replaces Anthony Fowler Fight

Robbie Davies Jr fights Gabriel Valenzuela for the IBF Intercontinental Super-Lightweight title on the Avaneysan v Kelly undercard.

Davies Jr (20-2) last fought on the Scott Quigg v Jono Carroll undercard with a win over Damian Yapruv. he also has a notables win over Joe Hughes in March 2019 and a loss against Lewis Ritson in October 2019 which was one of the fights of the year.

This fight replaces Anthony Fowlers fight with Jorge Fortea as Fowler has had to pull out due to testing positive for Covid-19.

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Latest Boxing News

Derek Chisora v Joseph Parker ?

Derek Chisora today posted this picture on his twitter account with the caption 'WAR is coming''

Derek 'WAR' Chisora was set to face Parker in October 2019, only for the fight to be cancelled after the New Zealander's preparations were ruined by a three-week illness, with the photos appearing to confirm a spider bite on his leg.

Parker is set to face Junior Fa in February and if he is successful it could set up a long awaited fight with Chisora.

Scott Fitzgerald to return to the ring & wants Fowler rematch

Scott Fitzgerald is set to return to the ring in March or April and hasn't fought since a win over Ted Cheeseman in October 2019 with Fitzgerald having problems outside the ring.

His manager Steve Wood said "We'll have a fight, see what he looks like, and then we'll start looking at European eliminators and eventually the world title within the next 18 months," 

They are also aiming for the Anthony Fowler rematch which he claims is a 'mega fight' and says 'it cant be done behind closed doors. We've still got the vision of selling out Deepdale'.

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 Ryan Garcia set to face Manny Pacquaio?

Ryan Garcia is claiming his fight with Manny Pacquiao will be a pro bout and not an exhibition.

Garcia posted a video on social media saying ' I wanna make it real clear my fight with Pacquaio will not be an exhibition , it will be a real fight , real shooting for 12  rounds , all on the line , our records on the line'.

Garcia is coming off a 7th round TKO victory over Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell in January and is hoping to set up a fight with 8 division world champion Manny Pacquiao. Garcia was reportedly set to fight Gervonta Davis, but now that bout is unlikely to happen next.

Pacquiao who hasn't fought since July 2019 with a split decision win over Keith Thurman has now been made 'Champion in recess' by the WBA due to inactivity.

Bob Arum Confirms Josh Taylor v Jose Ramirez?

Bob Arum promotor of Top Rank has confirmed that he has reserved the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for May 8th for Josh Taylor v Jose Ramirez.

Taylor who is WBA/IBF/ Ring Magazine Champion will face WBC/WBO champion Ramirez to crown an Undisputed Super Lightweight Champion.

What is your prediction? let us know