Chris Lovejoy controversy ahead of tonight’s fight with Manuel Charr.

California Heavyweight Christopher Lovejoy, who tonight met Manuel Charr 32-4 (18 Ko’s) for what was announced as the WBA title in recess, has an exclusive promotional agreement with Legendary promoter Don King. The promoter of Saturday’s boxing card in Germany Errol Ceylan is failing to comply with the Cease & Desist letter they received several weeks ago and with the fight taking place this evening may regret not acting on Kings legal council. 

“Chris Lovejoy and the Ceylan are defying the law,” said King. “We have served them and justice will prevail.. We will see who will be quacking when we get to court and the legal process decides that everything is there in black and white…  Lovejoy is out there popping off and feels that this fight is for the WBA championship..  The WBA hasn’t sanctioned this illegal bout and they certainly won’t do so. Trevor Bryan is the WBA champion.”

King continued.. 

“What fighter shows up in Germany without a trainer or cutman and is totally out of shape, weighing 306 pounds..  Lovejoy lacks plain common sense, We will see you in court along with your German promoter..  We’ll see who will be laughing last on Instagram.”

Lovejoy is supposed to have filed for bankruptcy in California before departing for Germany to try to stop King from taking legal action on his promotional agreement and thus trying to stop Saturday night’s fight with Manuel Charr.

King insists that promoter Errol Ceylan is promoting a title fight illegally, including a DKP exclusively promoted boxer, knowingly and willingly, compromising  King’s business agreement with Lovejoy.

Tonight in Cologne Germany, WBA champion in recess Manuel Charr, handed Christopher Lovejoy his first loss with a second round Ko over the Las Vegas based Californian.. This is Charr’s first fight since his 2017 fight with Alex Ustinov. Lovejoy 19-1 (19 Ko’s) looked out of his depth and will struggle to be taken seriously after this inept showing. 

Christopher Lovejoy v Mahmood Charr scheduled to commence this coming weekend in Cologne.

Next weekend we are scheduled to see the return of the enigmatic, mysterious undefeated heavyweight Christopher Lovejoy, if he steps into the ring to face former WBA regular champion Manuel Charr at the Box Gym arena in Cologne. Lovejoy 19-0 (19 Ko’s) has never faced a name opponent to date and has never featured in a televised bout, although sketchy footage exists from a couple of his knockouts, all of his appearances have been self funded and below the border in Mexico. Last year Lovejoy was scheduled to appear in London as an opponent for tough British heavyweight David Allen, until an intervention from Don King regarding a contractual dispute forced Lovejoy to pull out on the eve of the event. Many sceptics have speculated that Lovejoy is purely a marketed commodity who is attempting to promote himself into a huge payday. Inside boxing men like Kevin Henry and Bones Adams say that Las Vegas based Lovejoy can indeed fight, having also previously served briefly as a sparring partner to unified champion Tyson Fury several years ago but since then Chris has remained an unknown entity. Charr himself hasn’t boxed since 2017 when he faced Alexander Ustinov to pick up the WBA belt, he is 31-4 (17 Ko’s) and when on form is capable. With 6 days to go and Lovejoy already posting videos and pictures of himself in Cologne by the dozen via Instagram, one has to wonder, is Christopher once again enjoying the trappings of his media fame with very little intention of putting gloves on next weekend, Lovejoy already pulled away from high profile fights with Allen, Bryan very close to the date prior to this. This fight really has very little in terms of reward in terms of risk for Lovejoy, Charr isn’t renowned as a player in the higher echelons of the heavyweights today and victory would merely be an active baby step forward, where as a loss would bring the mystical tower that Chris has portrayed to the world to its knees. Expect a late pull out or injury postponement as this bout nears. 

Undefeated Frank Sanchez scores technical decision over theatrical Nagy Aguilera.

In the opening bout of the DAZN broadcast from Arlington, Texas, unbeaten Cuban heavyweight heavyweight Frank Sanchez 18-0 (13 KOs) outgunned veteran Nagy Aguilera 21-11 (14 KOs) for 6 uncomfortably dirty rounds of a scheduled ten to retain his WBC Continental Americas title via technical decision. Sanchez came out aggressively, hurting Aguilera early with right hands. By the third the fight became more heated with Aguilera complaining to referee Rueben Perez about a rabbit punch, at the same time as Sanchez unloaded a powerful right hand. Aguilera did bite down and fire back, but frustratedly resorted to head butting the Cuban. 

Sanchez replied by continually landing more stiff right hands, hurting Aguilera. Sanchez dictated the fifth with the jab frustrating the overmatched American. Round 6 was the closure, a long right hand from Sanchez landed awkwardly to the side of Aguilera’s head in the neck area, the referee warned the Cuban again for what appeared another rabbit punch, meanwhile Aguilera resorted to the dramatics of throwing himself to the canvas in distress. The ringside doctor entered the ring to check the stricken fighter although the Tv replay did not appear to show a shot that would have cause such a reaction. 

After several minutes of confusion, the fight was called off by referee Perez and a ruling of an accidental foul was announced sending the fight to the completed scorecards.

All three judges scored it 60-54 for Sanchez as he earned the technical decision at 1:42 of round six, remaining undefeated and retained his WBC Continental Americas title. 

Alvarez stops Saunders in 8 in Arlington.

WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez 56-1-2 (38 KOs) scored an eighth round retirement stoppage over WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders 30-1 (14 KOs) on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Alvarez, arguably the best pound for pound fighter active today proved too strong for Saunders outgunning him gradually over 8 rounds before stopping him on his stool between the eighth and ninth rounds. Canelo walked Saunders down in the early sessions, slowly breaking through the visitors defensive shell, Saunders landed some clever counters from range and attempted to keep Alvarez off balance with the jab. Saunders did gain some confidence in the middle rounds, but was continually met with more significant return fire from Canelo who was now finding his measure. Alvarez began looking to land the right uppercut from round 5 onwards and as he began finding the target began throwing the show with more savage intent. It was in round 8 Alvarez landed the shot that caused a swelling around the right eye. At the end of the round Saunders looked subdued returning to his corner and after some brief deliberation a compassionate Mark Tibbs made the decision to pull his fighter out.

Alvarez leaves the Texas with the WBO belt from Saunders to go along with his WBC and WBA straps and now set his sights on IBF champ Caleb Plant this September for the undisputed title, which Canelo has indicated as his main objective.

Canelo told DAZN Chris Mannix immediately after the fight in the ring as such, “That’s the plan to go for the belt. I’m coming, I’m coming my friend. I hope that fight can be made.”

The official result was a TKO at the end round eight. All three judges had Canelo in the lead at the time of the stoppage 78-74 twice and 77-75.

Weights from the DAZN card from Arlington Texas.

 

Saul Alvarez 167 v Billy Joe Saunders 167

(WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight titles)

Elwin Soto 107  v  Katsunari Takayama 107

(WBO light flyweight title)

Kieron Conway 154 v  Souleymane Cissokho 153

Frank Sanchez 237  v  Nagy Aguilera 238

Marc Castro 132  v  Irving Macias Castillo 127

Keyshawn Davis 138  v  Jose Antonio Meza 138

Christian Duran 146  v  Xavier Wilson 147

Kelvin Davis 143  v  Jan Marsalek 140

Hosted by the AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

Promoted by Matchroom Boxing 

Televised globally by DAZN

Slimline Ruiz outpoints tough Arreola in Carson Ca.

In a WBA world heavyweight title eliminator, former unified champion Andy Ruiz Jr. 34-2 (22 KOs) scored a hard earned twelve round unanimous decision over 3 time world title challenger Chris Arreola 38-7-1 (33 KOs) on Saturday in the first all  Mexican heavyweight showdown of this magnitude in front of 4000 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California in what was the first spectator accessible boxing event since the COVID lockdown.  The fight which was televised on FOX Sports and PBC Pay-Per-View in the United States was every bit as good as it promised, both guys came to fight and betting underdog Arreola caused the first shock of the evening by dropping Ruiz with a short right hand in the second. Ruiz weathered the storm and appeared to dictate the tempo of the majority of the bout from then on. Arreola slowed down steadily throughout the fight allowing Ruiz to land the more eye catching work. Arreola consistently stood his ground over the stretch, causing damage to the former champions face despite struggling with a shoulder injury. Both guys stood toe to toe until the end and no one could question the commitment of either man at the final bell. Ringside judges had Ruiz winning a wide unanimous decision with scores of 118-109, 118-109, and 117-110. 

“He got me with a good clean right hand in the second round,” said Ruiz. “I was too overconfident and dropped my hand a bit. Hats off to him. We just kept pushing and pushing. I switched up and started focusing on counterpunching and working the body.”

“I felt a little rust and I know other fighters can relate to that. If he wants to run it back, we’ll run it back with him.”

Arreola stated, “I respect the judges, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. He might have won, but don’t tell me I only won two or three rounds. I got hit in the shoulder and it kind of threw it off. It wasn’t a big deal though. It’s a part of boxing. I didn’t take too much punishment. I’m ready to run it back with Andy.”

 

Buatsi meets undefeated Daniel Dos Santos in Manchester on May 15th.

World ranked light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi 13-0 (11 KOs) stays on course for a world title fight when he meets ambitious undefeated Daniel Dos Santos 15-0 (8 KOs) for the WBA International title at the AO Arena in Manchester on May 15, live on Sky Sports in the UK and on DAZN in the United States.

Buatsi has teamed up with new trainer Virgil Hunter. “I’ve got an unbeaten opponent, that makes him ambitious,” said Buatsi. “Obviously it’s the first fight under Virgil, so it’s should be interesting. I’m looking forward to showing what I’ve been working on with Virgil. He’s going to want to hold onto his undefeated record, as I am. When that’s at stake you really dig deep.

“It’s mainly the style that I like. Each of his fighters translate it differently. The public haven’t seen how good I can be, or I will be. I want to unlock the potential that I have got. This addition to the team will 100 per cent bring the best out of me.”

Buatsi won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics and last boxed in October when he stopped the previously undefeated Mario Calic at the Marshall arena in Milton Keynes. 

Parker edges Chisora in controversial split decision.

Former WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker 29-2 (21 KOs) scored a twelve round split decision over former British, European, Commonwealth and WBC world title challenger Derek “War” Chisora 32-11 (23 KOs) on Saturday night at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. Chisora scored a flash knockdown early in the opener and appeared to boss the first half of the fight. Parker did work his way back into the bout and began to out-hustle the tiring Londoner throughout the middle rounds, with both men mixing it up in close session towards the final bell. Scores were 115-113 Chisora, 116-111, 115-113 Parker, however the consensus at ringside had Chisora winning the battle comfortably.

Felix Verdejo charged with kidnap and murder.

Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo Sánchez turned himself in Sunday hours after authorities announced they had identified the body of a woman who was carrying his child that went missing last week. Verdejo, 27, is charged with kidnapping resulting in death, carjacking resulting in death and killing of an unborn child, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Puerto Rico on Sunday. The complaint said the victim, identified as Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz, 27, was reported missing on Thursday. Her body was recovered in the San Jose Lagoon in San Juan on Saturday, the complaint said, and she was identified via dental records,  according to a statement released by Puerto Rico’s institute of forensic science on Sunday.

Verdejo self-surrendered on Sunday, Lymarie Llovet, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Puerto Rico, told NBC News. He appeared in court Monday morning, where he was ordered held without bail.

The criminal complaint said a witness to the crimes told the FBI that Verdejo contacted the witness asking for help terminating the pregnancy of Rodríguez Ortiz, who had "told Verdejo that she was pregnant with his child based on a pregnancy test."

Verdejo and Rodríguez Ortiz met up near her home and drove separately to meet the witness, the complaint said. When they got to the meeting place, Rodríguez Ortiz got into Verdejo's car.

The complaint said that after a conversation between the pair, Verdejo punched Rodríguez Ortiz and then injected her with "a syringe filled with substances purchased from a drug point in Llorens Torres," a large housing project in San Juan.

Verdejo and the witness then tied Rodríguez Ortiz's arms and feet with wire and tied her to a block, the criminal complaint said.

The witness, in Rodríguez Ortiz's car, and Verdejo, in his own car with Rodríguez Ortiz tied up inside, drove toward the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge over the San Jose Lagoon, the complaint said. Verdejo and the witness allegedly threw Rodríguez Ortiz off the side of the bridge.

Verdejo then shot at Rodríguez Ortiz with a pistol from the bridge above, according to the complaint.

The status of the witness, who has not been identified, is not public information, Llovet said.

Cell phone records and surveillance footage from the bridge helped investigators locate Rodríguez Ortiz's body. Her car was found abandoned in Canovanas, about 13 miles from the bridge, on Friday. And police found at least one shell casing on the bridge, according to the criminal complaint.

Rodríguez Ortiz had recently told her family that she was pregnant, police interviews revealed, according to the criminal complaint.

Keila Ortiz, the victim’s mother, told reporters that her daughter had called her before she vanished Thursday and told her that Verdejo was going to her house to see the results of a pregnancy test.

“I told her, ‘Be careful,’ because he had already threatened her," Ortiz said, according to The Associated Press. She said Verdejo had told her daughter not to have the baby, mentioning his career and family.

Verdejo is married and has a young daughter but had known Rodríguez Ortiz since middle school and kept in touch with her, her parents said. They reported her missing after she didn’t show up for her job at an animal grooming business.

Verdejo represented Puerto Rico at the Olympics in 2012, the same year he became a professional boxer competing in the lightweight division. His career was temporarily sidetracked after a 2016 motorcycle accident that put him in the hospital.

The first two charges Verdejo faces carry a maximum penalty of death, according to court documents filed Sunday. But a decision had not been made whether to pursue the death penalty, the documents said.

The killing of an unborn child carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, Llovet, the U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman said.

Verdejo's attorney, Jose F. Irizarry-Perez, said Monday that he and his client had no comment.

Top Rank, a boxing promotional company based in Las Vegas, which represents Verdejo, said in a statement that the company's "thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Keishla Marlen Rodriguez Ortiz, and with the entire Puerto Rican people in this time of mourning."

"We are deeply disturbed by the news reports and will continue to monitor the evolution of the case as it progresses," the statement said.

The case has outraged many in Puerto Rico, where another woman was recently found burned to death after she filed a domestic violence complaint that a judge dismissed. A Superior Court judge has announced an investigation into that decision.

Hundreds of people gathered Sunday at a bridge that crosses the lagoon where Rodríguez’s body was found to demand justice for her and other women killed, with some throwing flowers into the water below.

Gov. Pedro R. Pierluisi, in a statement Sunday, said, "There should be no doubt that we are in a state of emergency due to gender violence."

"The pain, anger and indignation that we feel every time we witness a crime of gender violence has to be kept alive in us so that we do not rest in our responsibility to protect, prevent and abolish this evil, as well as to do justice for all the victims," Pierluisi said. "We are better than this and we have to prove it."

Bentley v Cash. Plus undercard results. York Hall Bethnal Green

In the feature bout at the York Hall, undefeated British middleweight champion Denzel Bentley 14-0-1 (12 Ko’s) and Undefeated Commonwealth middleweight champion Felix Cash 13-0 (9 Ko’s) met in a tremendous matchup to decipher which man is ready to elevate his career to world level.  The opener saw both men start fast with Cash drawing first blood, rocking Bentley early. Both fighters settled into a rhythm, maintaining the aggressive tempo. Heavy shots were landed from both sides in the second, Cash appeared the more accurate of the two forcing Bentley to box more on the back foot. Cash dictated the majority of the third closing the distance, half way through the session, Cash landed a clean right hand, hurting Denzel who sagged on the ropes, Cash continued to land 5 further right hands that appeared to leave Bentley unable to defend himself forcing referee Victor Loughlan to halt the fight..  The despondent Bentley looked upset that the bout was stopped so quickly, yet the stoppage looked justified. Cash closed the gap and capitalised when he hurt Denzel with the first telling shots.  Felix Cash takes home the British and Commonwealth middleweight titles along with bragging rights as domestic top dog. 

 Karol Itauma 2-0 (1 Ko) scored his second outing by knockout at the York Hall tonight with causeda first round stoppage of the overmatched Ryan Hibbert 1-9 (2 Ko’s.) Hibbert tasted the Slovak National’s power early and took a count from a right hand left hook combination to the temple, moments later Itauma put his shots together in short combinations and put Hibbert down with referee Michael Alexander halting the proceedings.  The bout itself a disappointment with the promising amateur standout Itauma requiring a sterner test, Hibbert appeared to come with very little ambition on this occasion. 

Undefeated York prospect George Davey 3-0 faced Stoke based Jamie Stewart 2-1-1 at welterweight on the York Hall card tonight. The patient Davey kept the rugged Stewart on the outside for the majority of the early rounds, not allowing him the luxury of a close range affair. Stewart closed the distance and began causing Davey some troubles by the 5th forcing the youngster to fight up close. Davey regained control in the 6th keeping Stewart on the end of long shots to secure a comfortable decision.  Marcus McDonnell scoring the bout 59-56 in favour of Davey.

Undefeated Southpaw Henry Turner 4-0 outboxed Wolverhampton’s tough unorthodox Clayton Bricknell 3-3-1 over 6. Henry punched with authority throughout and forced the smaller Bricknell to adopt the back foot for the majority of the bout. Turner appeared to be loading up and telegraphing his shots on occasion and allowing Bricknell counter opportunities through the 3rd, yet regained his composure in the 4th and dictated the action. Turner controlled the bout through round 5 and maintained his lead with a dominant final session where he showcased flashes of his superior ability to secure a one sided decision. 

The experienced uk based Pole, Kamil Sokolowski 10-21-2 (4 Ko’s) forced the undefeated David Adeleye 5-0 (5 Ko’s) to box on the back foot in the early stages of an interesting heavyweight match up over 6.  Sokolowski took the action to the hard punching Londoner who had to adopt a patient approach to cope with the well travelled Pole. The inexperienced Adeleye showed maturity in adapting to the circumstances and work his way back into the bout having given away the opening 2 stanzas. Round 3 saw David start to panic and lose his composure, Sokolowski continued to pressure the younger man and in turn Adeleye began to load up and overreach with wide shots. Going into the 5th Sokolowski appeared to be enjoying a handy lead, with Adeleye requiring some urgency to salvage his unbeaten record, Kamil continued to apply pressure now tasting a hint of an upset. The final round saw Sokolowski continue to press Adeleye and force him out of his comfort zone, boxing going backwards. At the conclusion it appeared that Sokolowski had won a decisive points victory, against a considerably subdued Adeleye in a rare upset.

Marcus McDonnell however scored the bout 58-57 in favour of David Adeleye. 

Former world light heavyweight title challenger Callum Johnson 18-1 (13 Ko’s) overcame a back and forth opening round slug fest with tough Emil Markic  32-2 (24 Ko’s) to stop the capable Croatian in the second of a scheduled ten rounder for the vacant WBO Global title. Johnson had Markic pinned on the ropes and landed a flurry of unanswered shots before Emil slumped, forcing the stoppage. 

Meet Heavyweight, Jared Anderson.

                                

Toledo Heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson has jumped onto the scene with a bang over the last 18 months, the former two time US National super heavyweight champion has racked up 9 victories, all by knockout. Jared turned over in the October of 2019 scoring a 1st round knockout in Reno over one Daniel Infante and by following July had racked up 5 straight consecutive knockout victories yet had barely boxed a total of 7 rounds. Whilst getting ready for his third pro fight, Jared was hired as chief sparring partner for Tyson Fury in preparation for the Deontay Wilder rematch in Las Vegas, Anderson made such an impression on the Champion and his father John that the latter was quoted as saying, Jared would be the next great American heavyweight champion. The colourful heavyweight continued his knockout streak with a 4th round knockout of Rodney Hernandez on the Jamel Herring v Jonathan Oquendo undercard at the MGM bubble in Las Vegas. Jared would return to the bubble 6 weeks later, appearing on the Inoue v Maloney card and taking out the overmatched Luis Eduardo Pena in a round and again last February on the Commey v Marinez show when Anderson made a bold statement by scoring a striking final round knockout over once beaten Nigerian Kingsley Ibeh. Most recently Jared featured on the Joe Smith Jr v Maxim Vlasov show in Oklahoma where he appeared alongside fellow heavyweight prospects Efe Ajagba and Trey Lippe to score another stoppage, this time over the tough experienced Jeremiah Karpency in 2.  Jared is a tall agile boxer puncher who despite his brief time in the professional ranks appears relaxed and composed in the ring and showed in the Ibeh fight that he wasn’t over anxious to keep his knockout streak alive, despite finding the knockout late in the 6th, he used the rounds to gain valuable ring time against a live opponent. Jared has all of the apparent tools at this point in his career to move steadily and open doors for himself, Top Rank have exclusive promotional rights over Anderson and I expect them to slide him into some interesting matchups within the next year. Don’t expect opponents to be clambering over themselves to meet this feller, on paper he’s a novice pro, but big noise travels fast and all concerned fully understand that Jared Anderson is a bit special.