Smoking Bert Cooper passes, aged 53.

In Sad news, former two time world heavyweight title challenger Bert Cooper passed away on Friday at the age of 53.
Only weeks ago Bert picked up a Briscoe award at the Philadelphia Boxing Hall of fame..
Originally a world ranked Cruiserweight, Cooper made his biggest headlines up at heavyweight.. Bert came in on 8 days notice to challenge a prime Evander Holyfield for his IBF and WBA titles in 1992 after scheduled opponent Francesco Damiani sustained an injury.. The unlikely Cooper rocked the champion in round 3 before falling short 4 rounds later.. The following year Bert fought Michael Moorer for the vacant WBO title, in a war where both men visited the canvas twice before Bert once again came up short via 5th round stoppage.. Bert Cooper faced Carl Williams, Ray Mercer, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer, Evander Holyfield, George Foreman, Henry Tillman, Tommy Morrison, Chris Byrd and as recent as 2011 Luis Ortiz.. Bert took on the monicker “Smokin Bert” after one time trainer and father figure Joe Frazier, once sporting a T-shirt with the logo, ‘The Smoke is no Joke’ prior to his 1992 world title challenge.. Bert publicly struggled with substance abuse throughout most of his career, yet always appeared to bring his A game to his biggest fights.. Bert was given the dreadful news that he had Pancreatic cancer about 8 weeks ago.. This weekend Bert’s short brave battle came to an end as the 53 year old passed peacefully..
Bert was one of the good guys who most certainly left his mark..

RIP Bert Cooper.

Julian Williams upsets Jarrett Hurd, wins title at second time of asking.

In a surprise upset, Julian J-Rock Williams 27-1-1 (16 Ko’s) picked up the unified IBO/WBA and IBF Super Welterweight titles with a well earned unanimous decision over unbeaten Jarrett Hurd 23-0 (16 Ko’s) at the Eagle Bank Arena in Fairfax Virginia on Saturday.. Three years ago in a failed attempt for the IBF title, Julian looked a shell of this version of himself, in a 5th round knockout loss to Jermall Charlo, but it was persistence and determination on this occasion that pulled him to undoubtedly his most impressive performance..
Williams utilised the jab to great affect, landing first and making Hurd look disorganised, even on the inside.. In the second Julian had the champion on the floor for the first time in his career from a tremendous left hand..

Hurd responded well by making the middle rounds more competitive, yet in every department the Philadelphia man had the final word, with precise counter punching and intelligent movement.. Hurd attempted to rally late, but it just wasn’t his night.. Williams picks up his first Championship in his 29th pro outing by scores of 116-111 and 115-112 twice..

“I am just overwhelmed,” said Williams “This is such a great feeling, I outclassed him, I am one of the best fighters in the world.. Maybe I wasn’t ready for the title the first time I got the shot. I took the loss. I took it like a man and the whole world doubted me. I went into this fight a five to one underdog.. This is a dream come true.”

“I never got off like I planned to” said a despondent Hurd following the bout. “I can’t call it right now, I was loading up on my shots instead of just letting my hands go, Julian fought a great fight, he was the better fighter tonight..”

May 25th Show in Oxon Hill Maryland goes ahead with Haney v Moran Feature bout..

Following the collapse of Oleksandr Usyk’s Heavyweight debut against Carlos Takam, the scheduled May 25th Co-Feature has now been elevated to Main event as the show at The MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, goes ahead as planned with lightweight sensation Devin Haney 21-0 (13 Ko’s) taking on Antonio Moran 24-3 (17 Ko’s) as the headliner.. Haney, who signed a co-promotional deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing USA last week, is currently ranked number 3 by the WBC and number 5 by the WBA..
The Chief support bouts will feature Chicago’s WBC female super lightweight champion Jessica McCaskill 6-2 (3 KOs) aiming to add Argentine Anahi Sanchez’ 19-3 WBA belt to her collection.. Huge Croatian Heavyweight contender Filip Hrgovic 7-0 (5 KOs) faces Gregory Corbin 15-1 (9 KOs) in a terrible match for the Florida resident, having recently found himself in over his head and beaten by a fighter possibly less threatening than Hrgovic.. Finally, Las Vegas Heavyweight Michael Hunter 16-1 (11 KOs) Looks to continue his winning streak amongst the big men, making an appearance against an opponent not yet verified..

The Maryland Show will be broadcast by DAZN across USA and Europe and by Sky Sports in the Uk..

Manuel Charr v Trevor Bryan purse bids ordered by WBA.

The World Boxing Association Championship Committee has ordered a purse bid for a Championship bout between Manuel Charr and Trevor Bryan for the WBA regular heavyweight title, to take place on Monday 17th May.. The conditions of the bids are that they must exceed $1 Million and are to be distributed 75% for Charr and 25% for Bryan.. The bid process will be held in Panama City and under the direction of Aurelio Fiengo.
Charr 31-4 (17 Ko’s) won the vacant WBA regular title in the November of 2017 by beating Alexander Ustinov but has been inactive throughout the 20 months following..  The German based fighter has remained unbeaten since 2015..
Bryan 20-0 (14 Ko’s) is coming off of a knockout win over BJ Flores last August and although unbeaten, has really never stepped into any level of world class yet.. Trevor’s name was tossed into the mix as a suggested replacement opponent for Jarrell Miller to face unified champion Anthony Joshua, yet this bout appears more of a realistic opportunity.. Manuel Charr will be the most accomplished name on the New Yorkers record by far..

Oleksandr Usyk injured... Heavyweight debut against Carlos Takam postponed.

It appears that unified Cruiserweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk’s first step into the heavyweight picture will have to be rescheduled, as the Ukrainian has suffered an unfortunate bicep injury.. Usyk 16-0 (12 Ko’s) was due to face tough French-Cameroonian, Carlos Takam 36-5-1 (28 Ko’s) at the MGM, National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland on May 25th in what would have officially been his debut at the higher division.. The Takam fight wasn’t the easiest selection for such an important step, and hopefully the bout will be rescheduled for a new date in the near future.. Manager Egis Klimas announced the news on social media yesterday, stressing that a new date will be released shortly.. The injury is reported to be only a bicep tear, which won’t require surgery and may be repaired with rest within weeks..
It is not known yet the situation with the scheduled undercard bouts, Matchroom have not yet announced if Devin Haney’s bout with Antonio Moran and Croatian Heavyweight Filip Hrgovic’s bout with Greg Corbin will be switched along with the main event, or to go ahead as scheduled on the 25th..

Relentless Ryder dispatches Akkawy in 3 to pick up WBC interim title.

British Super Middleweight John Ryder 28-4 (16 KOs) picked up the WBA interim title on Saturday night with an impressive third round knockout of previously undefeated Bilal Akkawy 20-0-1 (16 KOs) in a twelve rounder on the Jacobs v Alvarez undercard..
Ryder, Originally scheduled to face former world champion David Lemieux in this Events co-feature before the injured Canadian withdrew, started cautiously against his late replacement, merely taking a good look at Akkawy.. Ryder began to find range at the end of the second but really sprung to life in the third, getting the Australians attention early with a right hand that sent him sprawling to the canvas.. The usually durable Akkawy got to his feet in no noticeable distress, but walked into a relentless volley of accurate punches, before being floored again, this time by left uppercut, right hand two piece that did leave Bilal very disorganised and unsteady.. Akkawy once again beat the count, yet appeared unprepared for the final series of clinical punches that Ryder unleashed upon the disorientated fighter, forcing referee Jay Nady to call a halt at 2:12 of the session.. Ryder hasn’t put a foot wrong since a pair of high profile defeats in 2016 and 2017, beating Patrick Nielsen, Jamie Cox and Andrey Sirotkin in succession prior to this, hopefully this victory will propel the 30 year old southpaw into some more lucrative opportunities in the coming months..

Alvarez unifies with unanimous points win over Jacobs in las. Vegas.

In a surprisingly technical affair, Saul Alvarez 52-1-2 (35 KOs) scored a unanimous decision victory over Daniel Jacobs 35-3 (29 KOs) in front of 20,203 people at The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas last night.. The Score totals were 115-113, 115-113, 116-112 All in favour of Canelo, but with so many contentious rounds, this bout could so easily have been scored as a draw...
The win adds Danny’s IBF belt to Saul’s WBA and WBC straps, making Alvarez in the eyes of many, the Undisputed Middleweight King..
Alvarez took the initiative from the start, forcing the fight to Jacobs.. The New Yorker had great early success with the jab, keeping Canelo at long range.. Alvarez struggled to get into a successful rhythm and at times found himself lunging in uncharacteristically, leaving numerous opportunities for Jacobs to exploit.. unfortunately Jacobs let himself down in this area of the fight.. Danny often did the hard work of setting up openings with the jab, then failing to capitalise on the chances that presented themselves. Jacobs did find sporadic success by switching styles, yet over time Alvarez appeared to have adjusted to the switch, especially with counters to the southpaw Jacobs.. Danny landed a huge left hook in the ninth that the rugged Mexican merely shook off.. Jacobs continued to pursue Alvarez into the tenth, finally stamping some authority into the fight.. Canelo weathered the storm to boss the final two sessions, out-landing Jacobs with the jab, setting up a spirited grand finale with clean left hooks and uppercuts.. This wasn’t Alvarez’ finest night by any stretch of the imagination, but many including myself did feel that he’d done enough to grasp victory over an opponent who honestly looked like he could have done more..

IOC make strides towards a more sexually equal and integral games in Tokyo next year.

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The Executive Board of the IOC has announced that boxing will remain on the sports program for the 2020 Olympiad in Tokyo Japan, the total athlete quota for the boxing schedule will be 286, however two of the current male weight categories are to be removed, to be replaced by new female divisions..
There were ten male boxing events and three female in the two previous games in both Rio and London, however Tokyo 2020 is aiming at eight male events and a rise to five female, all in the interests of gender equality in Olympic sports..
The IOC Board also recommended that the recognition of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) be suspended due to a current lack of faith in the bodies integrity, mostly regarding finance, ethics, refereeing and judging..
These changes are due to be addressed at the June 24 IOC forum session in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In addition, the EB created a special task division, headed by IOC member and FIG President, Morinari Watanabe, with the proposals to ensure the delivery of the following boxing competitions, with a goal of increasing sustainable gender equality in all areas of the sport.

The Qualification events for Tokyo Boxing 2020.
The Boxing tournament at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Develop a Tokyo 2020 Qualification System for boxing, including the following details to be confirmed not later than the end of June 2019:
Proper Definition of Men’s and Women’s weight categories;
A thorough Review of quota places allocation across the boxing events, with a goal of increasing gender equality;
To properly Set the criteria for the quota places distribution at the qualification events.

The EB also noted that a qualification system for Tokyo 2020 has not been put in place or confirmed by the IOC for boxing and no events have been confirmed by the IOC as Olympic qualification events. The IOC will develop a new calendar schedule for the Olympic qualifiers, which will take place between January and May 2020.
AIBA’s full status and recognition within the olympics will in principle be reviewed after Tokyo 2020. The evolution of AIBA’s situation and progress towards compliance with the Olympic Charter and the IOC Code of Ethics are monitored through a special committee which consists of the senior members of the former Inquiry Committee.

IOC president, Thomas Bach commented..

The decision was taken in the interest of the athletes and the sport of boxing. We want to ensure that the athletes can live their dream and participate in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 while drawing the necessary consequences for AIBA following the recommendations of the Inquiry Committee. At the same time, we offer a pathway back to lifting the suspension, but there needs to be further fundamental change..

The 134th IOC review Forum that will be formally executing the decision regarding AIBA and the sport of boxing at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is scheduled to commence on the 24th of June, proceeding until the 26th in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Harrison v Charlo 2, set for June 23rd.

On Sunday June 23rd, WBC Super Welterweight Champion, Tony Harrison 28-2 (21 Ko’s) takes on Jermell Charlo 31-1 (15 Ko’s) in a rematch of their first epic meeting just over 6 months ago.. Detroits Harrison took the Championship from Charlo on that occasion handing him his only career loss, in a debatable decision.. Harrison v Charlo is set for The Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and will be broadcast live by PBC on Fox and Fox Deportes.. The Undercard will feature former super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux against action packed brawler Julio Ceja in a final title eliminator..
The action will start 8pm Eastern time / 5pm Pacific..

Pearson and Butler, fortunate to score points wins tonight at the Hard Rock.

Ohio Middleweight Chris Pearson 17-2 (12 KOs) boxed cleverly to subdue WBC’s number 9 ranked Yamaguchi Falcao 16-1 (7 KOs), edging a ten round unanimous decision tonight at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Pearson holds a split decision victory over Falcao from back in 2011 when the pair met as amateurs in the WSB..
Many of tonight’s early rounds were contentious, with many at ringside holding the opinion that the busier Falcao had done enough to steal the majority of the bout.. Pearson came on strong in the last 2 sessions, cutting the Brazilian and visibly shaking Falcao in the last round.. Scores were 97-93, 96-94, 96-94 The Victory earns Pearson the vacant WBC Latino middleweight title.

In a clash for the WBC International middleweight title, Steven Butler 27-1-1 (23 KOs) won a very unpopular ten round split decision over Vitalii Kopylenko 28-2 (16 KOs). Kopylenko dropped Butler in the eighth with a body shot, Butler survived the assault by spitting out the mouthpiece to grab extra seconds.. The Canadian edged two scorecards 96-93, 96-93, while Kopylenko was up 95-94 on the third card.. The scoring was poor in this particular fight, almost everyone Ringside saw the Ukrainian, Kopylenko as the comfortable victor..

Unbeaten super middleweight Erik Bazinyan 23-0 (17 KOs) retained his NABA and NABO titles with a ten round unanimous decision against Alan Campa 17-5 (11 KOs). Scores were 99-90, 97-92, 99-90.

Middleweight Alexis Salazar 22-3 (9 KOs) scored an eight round unanimous decision over Abraham Cordero 13-4-2 (7 KOs).

Super welterweight Richard Acevedo moved to 5-0 (5 KOs) with a first round stoppage of Mario Sosa 3-2 (3 KOs).

Joyce meets Ustinov on May 18th..

A week on Saturday, the 18th May, Olympic Silver medalist Joe Joyce 8-0 (8 Ko’s) meets former WBA title challenger, Alexander Ustinov 34-3 (25 Ko’s) in a Co-Feature at The Lamex Stadium in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, complimenting the headlining Saunders v Isufi, interim WBO middleweight title fight.. The 33 year old Joyce, now based in the Uk, is looking to make some noise in the next 18 months and regardless of his 8 fight pro experience, felt somewhat insulted that his name wasn’t offered in the recent mix as a potential Anthony Joshua replacement for June 1st. The most recent outing where he stopped Bermane Stiverne, should have pushed Joyce’s profile up the rankings, yet only appeared to land him in a British title fight against fellow Brit Daniel Dubois.. A victory over Ustinov May not tell us an awful lot, but it’s a stay busy fight against a man with a live record, whom at the end of the day has to be removed in order to move on. The Gargantuan Ustinov looked terrible in his last outing in November, suffering an exposing stoppage defeat at the hands of former world Cruiserweight title challenger Michael Hunter jr, despite 2 years prior contesting for the world heavyweight championship.. Alexander’s best days are long gone, but a 280 pound man, with an evidently decent record can’t be taken lightly.. A loss to Ustinov is disastrous for a man in Joyce’s position, so with this fight comes pressure.. Look for Joyce to move past Alexander comfortably, yet more than likely swerve the Dubois fight.. In my opinion, Joyce is looking further than a British title..  

The Event will be promoted by Frank Warren and Queensbury boxing and broadcast by BT Sport..