Amir Khan was knocked out by Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in his last fight
Kell Brook and Amir Khan "are in talks" to stage a fight in May 2017, according to Brook's promoter Eddie Hearn.
Bolton's Khan, 30, said earlier this year that Sheffield's Brook, 30, is not a big enough name for him to fight.
But on Wednesday, Khan suggested on social media he would be the next fighter "to smash Kell Brook's face", while Brook responded by saying he wants to "send him back to sleep".
Hearn told BBC Sport: "There's a good chance of it [the bout] happening."
The promoter added: "Amir wants it to happen, so does Kell. We want to put a fight on for the fans."
Both boxers lost in their last fights after moving up to middleweight, with Brook being stopped in the fifth round by Gennady Golovkin, while Khan was knocked out in the sixth by Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.
Brook and Khan said after their fights that they would not fight at that weight classification again and it is not yet known whether champion Brook's IBF welterweight title would be on the line.
Hearn said the all-British fight could take place "up north in Manchester Arena or Old Trafford".
"Kell has proved himself. He beat Shawn Porter and had a good fight with Golovkin. The time is right," added Hearn.
The Manchester Arena was a 21,000 sell-out and those in attendance included Klitschko, former heavyweight world champions Shannon Briggs and David Haye, and WBC cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew.
Joshua KOs Molina in three
Haye and Bellew are set to meet on 4 March and engaged in some verbal sparring from their seats in the ringside media section.
The first round of the main event featured scarcely more action, although Joshua did land with a good left hook on the bell.
With Molina content to spoil, Joshua found it difficult to get off his shots in the second but he finally found his range in the third, with a devastating outcome.
With Molina pinned in the corner, Joshua chopped him down with a short overhand right and it was a minor miracle that he managed to regain his feet.
But the American only lasted a few more seconds, referee Steve Gray calling a halt to proceedings as Joshua was raining blows upon the challenger.
Before the fight, Molina said WBC champion Deontay Wilder, with whom he lasted nine rounds last year, was the hardest puncher in the division. Having felt the full force of Joshua's fists, he might have changed his mind.
Joshua's first reaction was to direct a smile and an outstretched glove towards Haye, a possible future opponent, although only one of many options.
The Briton won the title with a second-round knockout of American Charles Martin in April before knocking out Dominic Breazeale in his first defence in June.
Joshua-Klitschko confirmed
Kitschko, who will be 41 in April, lost his WBA, IBF and WBO belts to Manchester's Tyson Fury last year. Fury relinquished his belts last month, after announcing he was struggling with mental illness.
Billy Joe Saunders (left) fights Artur Akavov for the WBO middleweight title at Paisley Lagoon Centre in Paisley
Billy Joe Saunders put in a sluggish performance to retain his WBO world middleweight title by beating Russia's Artur Akavov on points.
Saunders, who twice had his first title defence postponed because of injury, looked second best in the early stages and struggled to let off his shots.
However, the Englishman picked up the pace in the second half of the fight to win on all three judges' cards.
Match Highlights
The undefeated 27-year-old is targeting a fight with Gennady Golovkin in 2017.
"I should be embarrassed to talk about Golovkin after that performance, but I want that big fight in 2017 to put that terrible fight right," he said of the WBC, WBA and IBF champion.
Saunders extended his record to 24 wins, with 12 knockouts, after the judges called it 116-113, 116-112, and 115-113 in his favour.
Manchester's Terry Flanagan successfully defended his WBO lightweight belt with an eighth-round stoppage of Orlando Cruz in Cardiff.
Cruz was bidding to become the first openly gay boxer to win a world title.
But the Puerto Rican carried no real threat and showed little ambition, allowing Flanagan to control proceedings from start to finish.
On the undercard, Welsh light-middleweight prospect Liam Williams stopped game Hungarian Gabor Gorbics.
Williams, 24, was supposed to have defended his British title against Ahmet Patterson, but the Londoner was attacked while on a training run and had to withdraw.
Despite being a late replacement, the unheralded Gorbics was tough and willing but Williams' constant pressure began to take its toll in the middle rounds.
In round eight, Williams dropped his opponent with a lethal left hook to the body and despite Gorbics hauling himself off the canvas, the referee waved the fight off.
The following year, he challenged Orlando Salido for the WBO featherweight title but was stopped in the seventh round.
After a quiet first three rounds, Flanagan found his range in the fourth, during which the challenger already looked resigned to his fate.
Before the start of the sixth, Flanagan's corner pointed out to referee Steve Gray that Cruz was not throwing any punches back.
Cruz was slightly more willing in the seventh but was dropped by a right hand in the eighth before Gray called a halt to proceedings.
"Once I hurt him, he didn't want to know," said the 27-year-old Flanagan.
"I think I'll have Christmas off and spend it with my family, because I've just finished a 15-year camp!"
Flanagan was making the fourth defence of the belt he won last July and is now unbeaten in 32 pro fights.
Flanagan would like to fight the winner of a proposed rematch between fellow Mancunian Anthony Crolla and Jorge Linares.
Venezuelan Linares beat Crolla last September to secure the WBA lightweight title. However, Flanagan's next fight is more likely to be a mandatory defence against unbeaten Puerto Rican Felix Verdejo.
Promoter Frank Warren said he had offered a fight to former Olympic champion Luke Campbell, who is guided by rival promoter Eddie Hearn.
"They didn't reply, which tells you how much they want it," added Warren.
Warren also said that Williams was ready to challenge for a world title, despite having only had 17 professional fights.
Warren also promotes Liverpool's Liam Smith, who lost when challenging for Saul Alvarez's WBO light-middleweight title in September.
But with Alvarez expected to move up in weight, Williams and Smith could possibly fight for the vacant belt in 2017.
Also on the bill at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield super-bantamweight Kid Galahad won his third fight since returning from a drugs ban, stopping Nicaraguan journeyman Reynaldo Mora in three rounds.
Former Olympian Tom Stalker was outpointed by Welshman Craig Evans, the first two fights between the pair having ended in draws.
Birmingham's Tommy Langford beat Sheffield's Sam Sheedy via a split decision to secure the vacant British middleweight title.
Referee Robert Byrd (L) holds up the arm of Andre Ward of the US following his unanimous decision victory over Sergey Kovalev of Russia in their WBA, IBF and WBO lightheavyweight world championship fight on November 19, 2016 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ward, the 2004 Olympic champion, recovered from a second round knockdown to defeat Kovalev by the same score of 114-113 on all three judges cards after an attritional battle at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena. / AFP / John GURZINSKI (Photo credit should read JOHN GURZINSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Andre Ward (31-0) is the new WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion after winning a razor-thin unanimous decision (114-113×3) over Sergey Kovalev on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The fight was billed as the battle to determine the pound-for-pound king of the sport, but few can even agree who actually won the fight. One thing most will say is that it was one heck of a battle between two amazing fighters.
Kovalev controlled the early part of the fight with his accurate jab and straight right hand. He dropped Ward in the second round for just the second time in his career. At that point, it looked as if it would be a short night for the former Olympic Gold medalist.
He seemed shocked by Kovalev’s power and he was retreating a lot and not claiming any part of the ring as his own. Ward hung tough, weathered the storm and stuck to his game plan.
Slowly but surely, he began to find his range with the jab and the left hook. He snapped Kovalev’s head back on several occasions and found a home for the left hand as well. Perhaps most importantly, Ward did some serious work to Kovalev’s body. The punches downstairs slowed the previously undefeated Russian and allowed Ward to seize the momentum late.
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 19: Sergey Kovalev of Russia reacts after losing a unanimous decision to Andre Ward in their light heavyweight title bout at T-Mobile Arena on November 19, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Kovalev wasn’t merely wasting away in the second half of the fight. He was offering back and landing at times, but his punches didn’t have the same snap they had early in the fight and Ward was dodging the bigger shots. Many of the late rounds were close, but I thought Ward won seven of the last eight rounds, and that included the all important 12th frame.
Match Highlight
Truth be told, Ward looked legitimately surprised when he heard the judges’ scorecards. I think he knew the fight was close, but he had to be nervous about the early knockdown. Also, like Tom Craze said, if you ignored Ward’s body work, it would have been easy to miss the rounds he won.
Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (26-0, 22 KO) remained undefeated as he easily won a unanimous decision over Malik Scott (38-3-1) on Saturday in Monte Carlo. This wasn’t exactly a thrilling bout. Here’s a look at the official scorecards: 120-105, 120-106 and 119-106.
Here’s a look at the official scorecards: 120-105, 120-106 and 119-106.
Ortiz dominated the fight from start to finish, but he’ll get some justified criticism for not stopping Scott. The 37-year-old Cuban dropped his opponent three times and the latter seemingly flopped on the canvas on four other occasions.
Full Fight Replay
To put it plain, this was a chore to watch.
For most of the fight, Scott simply moved around the ring to escape Ortiz’s largely one-handed attack. Ortiz was looking to land one big left hand–which is what he did in his last fight against Tony Thompson in March.
Ortiz ultimately stopped Thompson in the sixth round, but Scott was a little slicker defensively and more fleet of foot. This allowed him to easily escape most of powerful southpaw’s attempts to land damaging power shots.
Scott didn’t even appear to be hurt on any of the three knockdowns. His landings on the canvas were more a product of bailing out in hopes of escaping major damage.
Scott never threatened Ortiz at any point in the fight, and it was apparent he got what he came to Monte Carlo to receive. He wanted a payday and to survive. In that regard, he was a winner.
Manny Pacquiao returned to the ring after his brief retirement and looked like the Pacquiao of old, taking the WBO welterweight title from Jessie Vargas by unanimous decision (114-113, 118-109, 118-109) in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
After a slow first round from both fighters, Pacquiao was able to take control with a knockdown of Vargas in the second round and was extremely active in the third round as well, hunting for a finish. Vargas settled in and controlled the action in the middle of the fight, but after the sixth round, it was apparent that Pacquiao's speed and movement were going to be too much for the champion.
Full Fight Replay
Pacquiao's powerful left hand did damage to the right side of Vargas' face throughout the night, but in the later rounds it was a short right hand that he shot over the Vargas left jab that really set the tone for the second half of the fight. Pacquiao created a new rhythm with that right hand and starting to set up combinations rather than hunt for just the big left hand.
Vargas fought admirably and never stopped coming forward against Pacquiao, but by the closing rounds it was clear that he was running out of gas. His right hand was his only real weapon and it did some damage, looping in and catching Pacquiao flush on the chin on a number of occasions. The problem for Vargas was, once that hard right landed, he couldn't -- or wasn't willing to -- follow it up to create a power combination that would really hurt Pacquiao.
In the end, Pacquiao cruised to a victory on two of the judges cards, while narrowly edging out Vargas on the other thanks to his second-round knockdown to claim the belt. Pacquiao would not say who he wants to fight next when a possible rematch with Floyd Mayweather was mentioned or a potential bout at 140 pounds with Terence Crawford.
While his future opponent is an uncertainty, there is no doubt that Pacquiao still has the speed and skills to make him one of the top welterweights in the world.
Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua are now expected to meet in 2017
Britain's IBF world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will not fight former champion Wladimir Klistchko in 2016 but promoter Eddie Hearn expects a fight in the spring.
The pair were close to agreeing a bout for 10 December but Klitschko has picked up a "minor injury" in training.
The WBA had also yet to state whether its vacant title would be on the line.
"While waiting on the WBA and with Klitschko's injury, it was a non-starter," said Hearn.
"Let's get this over the line for March or April."
He added: "We will announce that fight for the spring and give it the build-up it deserves - probably take it to a stadium as well. I'm certain it will happen in the spring.
"We are in talks with the Millennium Stadium [now the Principality Stadium] about their dates in March and April - it has a roof and it can be a bit nippy in London in March or April."
British heavyweight Tyson Fury has vacated the WBA and WBO titles and had his boxing licence stripped by the British Boxing Board of Control "pending further investigation into anti-doping and medical issues".
Undefeated super middleweight Jamie Cox (21-0, 12 KOs) defeated Martin Fidel Rios (20-10-3, 11 KOs) by a 10 round points decision to capture the vacant WBO Inter-Continental super middleweight title on Saturday night at the Bolton Whites Hotel in Bolton. Referee Phil Edwards, who really had his hands full in controlling this fight, scored it 98-96 for Cox to give him the win.
That was a fair score. However, you can argue that Edwards should have disqualified the 30-year-old Cox for all the awful fouling he was doing the entire fight. I lost track of all the head-butts that were initiated by Cox in the fight. He was constantly sticking his head into the face of Rios like a Billy goat for the full 10 rounds.
Full Fight Highlights
Cox knocked Rios down in the 3rd round. While Rios was down, Cox nailed him twice. Oddly enough, the referee Phil Edwards didn’t take points off for that foul. I can understand a fighter getting away with hitting opponent with one shot while they’re down on the canvas, but two punches? What’s up with that?
Edwards did take points away from Cox on three separate occasions in the fight in penalizing him for a beautiful rabbit shot in the 2nd, hitting on the break in the 4th, and head-butting in the 8th. However, Edwards missed a whole BUNCH of fouls that Cox committed in the fight in terms of head-butts, rabbit shots, and the punches that he threw Rios was down on the canvas in the 3rd. I personally thought Coz should have been disqualified for all the fouling he did, because it was just WAY too much.
I’ve never seen a fighter foul as much ax Cox did in this fight and not get disqualified. The referee should have done something with the way that Cox was sticking his head in the face of Rios the entire fight. It looked bad on Cox’s part, and totally unnecessary because he had the better boxing skills of the two by far. Cox made an easy fight very difficult with his fouling.
Rios was docked points in round three for spitting out his mouthpiece while he was down and in the 8th round for what appeared to be him trying to bite Cox. It looked like Rios was trying to bite Cox. It’s unclear. Cox didn’t like it, and he immediately retaliated by ramming his head into the face of Rios, which resulted in him losing a point for the flagrant foul. It was an interesting round to how these two fighters bent the Marquis of Queensbury rules and turned the fight into an ugly street brawl.
To Cox’s credit, he eased off on the fouling in the 9th and 10th and did a better job of landing shots without the extracurricular stuff. However, Cox was still coming in with his head in the face of Rios, and he was able to get away with it. I’m not sure if Cox can’t fight normally like other fighters by standing on the outside, throwing punches and resisting the head in the face bit.
I think it might be a stamina issue with Cox, because he ended up wrestling with Rios after every two or three punches. Cox would come forward with his head down, throw two or three shots, and then end up wrestling or holding Rios. During these wrestling episodes, Cox’s head was frequently in the face of Rios, causing him to turn his head to the side to keep from getting cut to ribbons. Cox would then brain him by nailing him with a shot to the side of the head. It was so ugly to look at.
If you look at Cox’s early fights in his career in 2007 and 2008, he was much different fighter back then. Cox had impressive boxing skills, and was able to do a lot of different things in the ring. He looked like the finished product at the time. But somewhere along the lines, Cox has tinkered with his fighting style and turned into a real roughhouse type of fighter. He would be so much better if he reverted back to the fighter he was when he first turned pro. At 30, I’m not sure if Cox can change what he’s evolved into as a fighter.
I’m not sure who taught Cox to fight the way he’s fighting now, but he might needs to think about getting another trainer if this is what his current trainer is teaching him. If Cox had someone like Abel Sanchez training him, he’d be able to get him back to the fighter he once was. I’m not sure if Sanchez would agree to train Cox or not, but he might.
It would be interesting to see what Sanchez could do with a fighter like Cox to help him develop, because he seems to have lost his way for some reason. Tonight’s fight was like watching an entirely different fighter than the one that turned pro years ago. What the heck happened to Cox for him to turn into a roughhouse fighter?
In other action on the card, former IBF bantamweight champion Paul Butler (22-1, 12 KOs) defeated an overmatched Alexis Ruiz (11-4, 4 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The final score was 99-92. The win was the fifth straight for the 27-year-old Butler since losing to Zolani Tete by an 8th round knockout in March of 2015. For some reason, Butler is facing only weak opposition since his loss to Tete. I could understand one or two confidence builder type fights for Butler after the loss to Tete, but not five of them. Come on, it’s time for Butler to get back out there and start fighting world level opposition again. He can’t devote the remainder of his career in fighting fodder after his disappointing loss to Tete. Things happen. You’ve got to get over it and move on.
Frankie Gavin lost to Birmingham rival Sam Eggington (Reuters)
Frankie Gavin was stopped by Sam Eggington after a thrilling fire-fight in Birmingham.
The two local rivals went toe-to-toe for much of the eight rounds until the referee stepped in.
Gavin was dropped in the third round and given a standing count in the sixth before Eggington finally prevailed.
Gavin came off second best in a thrilling fight (Reuters)
Often hailed as the country's best-ever amateur fighter, Gavin has struggled to transfer that form into the paid ranks.
He has lost European and world title challenges and declared this a make-or-break contest.
Full Fight Highlights
But he failed to make weight on Friday, eight years after doing the same at the Beijing Olympics.
And his decision to meet the big-punching Eggington in the centre of the ring failed to pay off.
Gavin was knocked down in the third round (Reuters)
Gavin was dropped by straight right to the chin and was regularly pinned to the ropes.
He fought back until he was given a standing count in the sixth round; the referee adjudging the ropes were keeping him upright.
And two rounds later, another barrage of blows against the ropes forced the official to step in for a final time.
Eggington celebrates the biggest win of his career (Reuters)
Gavin said: "I didn't realise how big he was. Great credit to Sam, we were friends before the fight and you get dislike for someone who wants to punch your head off, but were friends again.
"It was a good fight. I showed I can have a fight. I want to do it again."
Eggington added: "I can't explain it, I'm over the moon. Me and Frankie had a bit of needle but it's fine again now."
Britain's Anthony Joshua and Ukraine's Wladimir Klitschko have agreed to fight each other, with an announcement expected in a couple of days, says promoter Eddie Hearn.
According to Hearn, the heavyweight fight needs to be sanctioned, with Joshua's IBF belt and potentially the WBA and WBO titles on the line.
The British Boxing Board of Control revoked Fury's licence "pending further investigation into anti-doping and medical issues", after the 28-year-old admitted he had been taking cocaine to help him deal with depression.
Fury beat Ukraine's Klitschko last November to win the WBA, IBF and WBO titles but withdrew from two scheduled rematches.
Britain's undefeated heavyweight champion Joshua, 27, was scheduled to defend his title on 26 November in Manchester.
Hearn says the fight between Joshua and Klitschko will likely be held at the 21,000-capacity Manchester Arena.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, Hearn added: "The deal between the fighters is there. The financial terms are agreed, there was a problem with US broadcasters but that has been sorted.
"It is now a case of getting the paperwork and the sanctioning in order. Hopefully in a couple of days we will have the official announcement."
