About Billions Promotions set to feature in Ohio.

On the 10th February, Adrien Broner's, About Billions Promotions takes its first step into the big leagues when they hosts their first solely promoted event at The Huntington Centre in Toledo Ohio.. Four weight world champion Broner (32-2) 24 himself returns to the ring just one week later when he takes on Adrian Granados on February 18th, but seems very excited at the prospect of changing roles to endorse three of his prized house fighters..   WBA Super world bantamweight champion Rau'shee Warren (14-1) defends his title against Zhanat Zhakiyanov (26-1) while unbeaten IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter jr (18-0) defends against Luis Cruz (22-4-1) in a co-feature..  lastly, the highly ranked lightweight Jamel Herring (15-1) will make an appearence in a ten rounder..   The AB promoted event will feature exclusively on Bounce Tv across the United States..   look out for AB Promotions in the coming months as they make moves to enhance their fighter portfolio with a few more major players along with promoting many more high profile events..

Gervonta Davis shocks Pedraza in 7.

Baltimores Gervonta Davis delivered an awe inspiring performance in the co-feature at Brooklyn's, Barclays centre last night, stopping the previously unbeaten Jose Pedraza in the seventh round to win the IBF junior lightweight championship..
The youngest of the Floyd Mayweather fighters, Davis (17-0, 16 KO’s) grabbed his first title opportunity with both hands scoring the best win of his career, with a display of clean crisp relentless punching. Pedraza (22-1, 12 KO’s) tried to press Davis and slow his momentum but Davis’ defense and head movement was far more advanced than anticipated..
Davis started as he meant to go on, lashing precise shots at Pedraza from obscure angles early on, connecting effectively with uppercuts that penetrated Pedraza’s defense continually..  At first it looked like Pedraza was patiently waiting for Davis to burn out in the middle rounds, but as time wore on, it was the Puerto Rican who was showing signs of battle over time..  Pedraza rallied in the fifth forcing Gervonta to regroup, but it wasn't long before the youngster found his groove to fire back.. Pedraza was under continued fire for most of the fight but never really looked distressed, yet was examined by the ringside physician heading into the seventh..  with a badly swollen right eye the champion was allowed to proceed with the fight and continue to try to keep Davis at bay..  With a minute left in the seventh Gervonta seized the moment, a single right hook took everything out of Pedraza, collapsing the champion, snapping his head back off of the bottom rope as he fell, his attempt to rise was in vain as the fight was stopped at the 2:36 point of the round.. The risk that the Mayweather people took in this fight was whether Davis was experienced enough to campaign at this level..  It was very evident that his power is very real and a very rare talent was unveiled tonight..    Gervonta Davis is for real..

Jack and Degale both retain their titles with a majority draw.

In their long awaited Super middleweight unification clash, WBC champion Badou Jack and IBF champion James DeGale battled to a hard fought twelve round majority draw last night at Brooklyn's,  Barclays Center in NY. DeGale scored a flash knockdown in the first to gain a head start , whilst Jack scored a vital knockdown in round twelve.
Degale dropped Jack with a straight left in the first, Jack didn't look troubled but lost valuable momentum for the most part of the early going..
Jack obtained control of the ring centre in the 3rd round, defending well against Degale’s attacks while steadily landing single shots of his own.
At the end of round 5, Jack’s enthusiasm saw him land a shot after the bell, catching  referee Arthur Mercante flush with a hook initially aimed at Degale, Mercante gamely shook it off..
Jack began to find success targeting Degale’s body in the 7th round, as the pattern of the fight shifted.. An explosive 8th round saw Jack’s best action of the night, landing flurries of shots at will, hurting Degale but unable to put the IBF champ away..
Rounds 10 and 11 were close with both fighters having their moments. By round 12 it looked all square, Degale looking certain to steal the round, until an ever dangerous Jack delivered the left hook of the fight that dropped the disorientated Degale for the first time in his career..  Jack pressed for the stoppage but was prevented by clever survival tactics by Degale..
After 12 rounds, the judges scored the fight 114-112 to Degale, 113-113, 113-113, a majority draw. James Degale is now 23-1-1, 14 KOs while Badou Jack notches up another draw and is 20-1-3, 12 KOs.
I had Jack winning by a point, but it would have been a shame to see either man lose their belt in such an exciting battle. James offered high praise for a disappointed Badou Jack after the bout, emphasising his willingness to do it all again, pointing to the gap in his teeth where the WBC champ had smashed out a tooth..  Jack and Floyd Mayweather however offered a resounding yes to a rematch, but stipulating that it must now be at light heavyweight, where Jack now intends to campaign. It looks now like Degale will face Callum Smith back in the Uk, with the likelihood that Jacks WBC may become vacant upon his move to 175..

Aleem upsets unbeaten Khytrov in Brooklyn.

Immanuwel Aleem scored perhaps the biggest win of his career, upsetting the odds with a sixth round technical knockout over the heavily hyped Ievegen Khytrov at Barclays Center in Brooklyn tonight..  Aleem (17-0-1, 10 KO’s) came close to halting Khytrov in the first round, knocked him down in the third and again in the sixth before referee Eddie Claudio stepped in to call a halt with Khytrov stricken and bloodied on ropes. The fight was stopped at the 1:20, giving Aleem the WBC Silver middleweight title.
Aleem hurt Khytrov badly in the first round when he rocked him with an overhand right. Khytrov retreated to a corner but continued to take a series of hard shots to the head. Aleem appeared to punch himself out, providing Khytrov an opportunity to shake off the effects of the earlier damage. Khytrov (14-1, 12 KO’s) recovered well between rounds and came back with hard ammunition of his own in the second.
Aleem knocked Khytrov down with a left hook in the third. Khytrov rose quickly but appeared disorientated during Claudio’s count. But when the action resumed Khytrov once again caught Aleem with stiff shots of his own wobbled the American into Khytrov’s corner on shaky legs.
Aleem stepped up the heat in the sixth, knocking Khytrov on to his back with yet another series of powerful right hands.. Khytrov was dazed badly and upon rising looked in no condition to continue.. Claudio gave him every chance to recover and let the fight resume, Aleem jumped straight on Khytrov, snapping his head back with a left hook, offering Claudio no choice but to call a halt.. Khytrov did not protest the stoppage.

Anthony Dirrell outguns Norbert Nemesapati in Florida.

Also on the Hialeah Park card in Florida, Former WBC super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell (29-1-1, 24 KOs) scored a sixth round stoppage of Norbert Nemesapati (24-4, 17 KOs) on Friday night. Dirrell was comfortably in charge of the action for the majority of the fight. In the second Dirrell landed a huge volume of heavy punches on the rugged Nemesapati who was fortunate to survive the session... The referee stopped the fight at the concludion of round six, with Nemesapati looking completely demoralised...  The time was 2:56.

Lara stops inactive Foreman in 4.

WBA super welterweight Champion Erislandy Lara (24-2-2, 14 KOs) scored a concise fourth round Stoppage of former title holder Yuri Foreman (34-3, 10 KOs) on Friday night at Hialeah Park in Miami, Florida. After a couple of tentative rounds, Lara broke the ice with a knockdown in the third, in what appeared to be a clear slip by Foreman. A round later there was no doubts about the knockdown, Lara flattened Foreman with a crushing left uppercut that finished the job..  Yuri was unable to continue.
Foreman had only boxed 10 rounds in the last 3 years, and it was evident..
Time was 1:47.

Nevada commission making moves to remove Marijuana from their banned substance list.

In one of the most bizarre set of affairs this week, one of the issues heading the agenda for Friday’s Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting will be a discussion regarding whether to get the ball rolling towards a project, amending a Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) that excludes cannabinoids from the list of Prohibited Substances.
Nevada residents voted to legalize marijuana in the state during the November election and as of January 1, it’s now legal for adults 21 and over to possess up to an ounce.
Is it a step in the right direction to give the green light to professional athletes to pursue the use of Cannabis or Marijuana whilst competing in their chosen sport..?

Zabdiel Judah returns January 21st.

Brooklyns 39 year old former world champion Zabdiel Judah (42-9) 29 Ko's is scheduled to have his first bout in 3 years when he faces Jorge Luis Manguia (13-7) 5 Ko's, on January 21st in a scheduled 10 round bout at Super lightweight at The Sun Bank Arena in Trenton New Jersey..  Judah last boxed at Super lightweight in a losing world title challenge for Danny Garcia's WBA and WBC titles in April of 2013, his last appearence in a ring was in the December of 2013 against Paulie Malignaggi..  Zabdiel was scheduled to box in Las Vegas in 2014 at the Westgate resort (formerly the Hilton) and at the D resort in 2015, both of which failed to materialise for several legal reasons..

Briggs v Oquendo shenanigans..

In another shambolic set of affairs, the WBA championship committee have ordered both parties of Shannon Briggs (60-6-1.. 53 Ko's) and Fres Oquendo (37-8.. 24 Ko's) to start negotiations to set up thier scheduled bout for the vacant WBA regular title..   Those concerned have 30 days to meet an agreement or purse bids will commence..   Eight weeks ago Lucas Browne was scheduled to meet Briggs, but following a drugs test failure for the second time, Oquendo gets his due opportunity as mandatory challenger, via a court order..
A mandatory world title challenger who has only boxed 6 times in 7 years, last time out losing a WBA title challenge to Ruslan Chagaev 18 months ago..
The other half of the soirée, Briggs isn't much better, he has boxed only 9 times in the last 7 years since losing a WBC title challenge to Vitali Klitschko in 2010..   in the 9 victories Briggs has not once fought a man ranked in anyone's top 25..

Ironically, the winner of the Oquendo v Briggs fight will be ordered to meet Alexander Ustinov (33-1.. 24 Ko's) a man who has fought only 6 times in 5 years since losing a Euro title challenge to Kubrat Pulev in 2012..    Ustinov's 6 wins came against a 39 year old shopworn Mo Harris, Konstantin Airich, a 41 year old David Tua and a 310 pound Chauncey Welliver..    hardly a worthy title challenger of note.

Broner faces Grenados, Feb 18th on Showtime.

Four weight world champion Adrian Broner (32-2) 24 Ko's, returns for the first time since his April stoppage of Ashley Theophane when he takes on Adrian Granados on February 18th..   Both fighters are ranked in the top ten at 140, Granados at #7 and Broner at #4...  Granados (18-4-2) 12 Ko's is Coming off a July win over Ariel Vasquez following his eye catching upset stoppage of the unbeaten Amir Imam in the November of 2015..    The site for the bout is uncertain but looks likely to be Xavier University in Cincinnati Ohio.  Showtime will televise the event..

Hughie Fury lining up as first defence for Parker.

It looks very much that WBO #2 heavyweight Hughie Fury (20-0, 10 KOs) the cousin of former unified world champion Tyson Fury is leading in the stakes to become the first defence for new champion Joseph Parker (22-0, 18 KOs.)
Fury made it known yesterday that his camp and representatives of Parkers team are in deep negotiations..  he also pointed out that as #1 contender, he is mandatory and will be challenging for the belt either way..  Fury isn't overlooking Parker and agrees that he is a talented, capable customer but believes that his time in now and he has the equipment to beat the New Zealander..   Hughie also remarked on the fact that the hometown advantage helped him in stealing the verdict over Andy Ruiz for the vacant title, but let's it be known that he doesn't care where the fight takes place, as a traveller he understands all about being an away fighter..   Fury thought that Ruiz should have forced the fight a little more back in December, a mistake that robbed him of a verdict but emphasises, it won't be a mistake that he will make come the time..