Aljamain Sterling, former UFC lightweight champion, wrote a post on social media addressed to the organization's current lightweight champion Sean O'Malley. Sterling called Sean a worthless champion.
"You're a worthless champion. Keep bragging about fighting handicappers. You do it to have a high chance of winning. Kid, you're not a real man. Don't try to run away from a top contender again and then fight a guy who's locked in the top 15," Sterling wrote on his social media.
Recall that O'Malley became the UFC lightweight champion by knocking out Sterling and taking the championship belt away from him.
Jan Blachowicz believes Jon Jones, the former UFC bantamweight champion, moved up to heavyweight to avoid fighting him.
"I'm a heavyweight now, so moving up to heavyweight is easy. I'd like to see Jones fight against (Tom) Aspinall, (Alex) Pereira and me. He escaped to heavyweight because I was in my prime when he left [the welterweight division]. He knew if he met me, he was going to lose. It was his best decision to move up to heavyweight. He promised me that fight, so that's what I'm hoping for - maybe someday. Maybe not in the gym, but somewhere in my backyard," Blachowicz told Fanatics View.
Vasiliy Lomachenko will fight George Kambosos Jr. in Australia this Sunday for the IBF lightweight title. If he wins, his next potential bout could be against Shakur Stevenson in the fall. This series of fights could set the stage for Lomachenko becoming the undisputed champion.
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has mandated Artur Beterbiev, the reigning WBC and IBF light heavyweight champion, to provide comprehensive medical explanations of his recently sustained knee injury. The demand was issued on Wednesday by Luis Batista Salas, the chairman of the WBO Championship Committee. This comes after the scheduled prime fight with WBA titlist Dmitry Bivol on June 1 in Riyadh was postponed due to Beterbiev's injury.
Famous British promoter Eddie Hearn spoke out about Ryan Garcia's failed doping test.
"I think Haney will push for disqualification. He took the defeat hard. And now he has even more questions. Because now he's constantly thinking about whether his opponent's overweight and banned drugs were the reasons for the defeat. I think it's a small consolation for him to realize that his opponent played dirty. I don't think there's anything to argue about. Even if you are a devoted fan of Garcia, still have to agree - the fighters were not on equal terms," said Hearn on the YouTube channel Fight Hub TV.
Recall, Garcia failed the doping test, which was taken from him before the fight with Devin Haney.
Zhilei Zhang will face Deontay Wilder in a heavyweight boxing match on June 1, 2024, in Saudi Arabia. Both fighters are coming off losses against Joseph Parker and view this upcoming contest as a pivotal moment to resurrect their careers.
Sampson Lewkowicz's Sampson Boxing has officially renewed its long-term promotional contract with Dominican lightweight contender Edwin 'La Granada' De Los Santos. The signing took place on May 8, 2024, securing the continuing partnership between the well-known promoter and the 24-year-old fighter from Santo Domingo.
Former absolute world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis predicts that Tyson Fury will defeat Oleksandr Usyk in a fight for all heavyweight titles.
"I believe Tyson Fury has great characteristics: he's tall, can box on both feet, fights as a lefty and righty, can go forward. At this point, in my opinion, it's hard to beat a bigger fighter. That's why I always say the bigger guy has the advantage.
I think Tyson Fury will win on points. But I don't discount Oleksandr Usyk," Lewis said in an interview with YouTube channel talkSPORT Boxing.
Recall that the fight Usik vs. Fury will be held on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
Former bantamweight champion Jan Blachowicz has once again talked about wanting a rematch with current titleholder Alex Pereira, to whom he lost by a controversial split judges' decision last July.
"He's not a better fighter than me and I think I deserve a rematch. When he fights against me, I will still think I will win that fight.
The judges give different scores, but I believe I won the first fight against him and I believe I deserve a rematch. He knocked everyone out - not me. When I come back, I believe I can fight him again," Fanatics View quoted Blachowicz as saying.
No. 2 in the UFC lightweight division rankings, Corey Sandhagen, has spoken out about a fight with tenth-ranked Umar Nurmagomedov.
It was previously announced that these fighters would meet on August 3 at a tournament in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
"At this stage of my career, I no longer want fights with my participation to last the whole distance. During my downtime, I've done some serious work to add power to my hands. I've also worked on a couple of techniques to tear people apart.
I'm usually confident before a fight, but now I'm not just confident - I know I'm capable of hurting him. It will be great to show my skills to the world," the American said on The MMA Hour show.
