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Out of all the boxers in the world Claressa Shields was chosen Best Boxer of the Year at the prestigious ESPY Awards given annually in Los Angeles. This includes all men and women.
Incredible honor.
“This award may have my name on it, but it is for every female boxer who has stepped into the ring and hopefully will inspire generations of young women in the future to pursue their dreams with no boundaries. I want to thank ESPN and all my fans who voted for me all over the world,” said Shields.
Shields, the undisputed super welterweight and middleweight world champion, became the first woman ever chosen for the award. Other candidates were Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney.
All were extremely worthy, but it was Shields who stood out with her victories over Maricela Cornejo and England’s Savannah Marshall who recently became undisputed super middleweight champion.
The Flint, Michigan native erupted on the boxing scene in 2016 after winning back-to-back Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016. Since turning professional Shields has burned up the prizefighting scene and become one of the spearheads in breaking the glass ceiling that prevented women’s boxing from being televised.
chosen for the award. Other candidates were Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney.
For those that have never witnessed Shields in action, it’s best to see her perform in person. Her incredible hand-speed, agility and overall athleticism make her one of the best female fighters I ever saw. Perhaps the best.
If not for Shields and a few others, women’s boxing would have remained in the shadows. Thankfully, her willingness to prove her skills against the best fighters in the world smashed the barriers that kept women’s boxing hidden.
Now the top women fighters are promoted and televised by major companies and networks such as ESPN, which sponsored the ESPY Awards.
More Michigan
Undisputed super featherweight champion Alycia Baumgardner meets Christina Linardatou on Saturday, July 15, in Detroit. This is their second confrontation. DAZN will be streaming their fight.
Linardatou is the only fighter to have a win over Baumgardner and the champion is eager to avenge that loss that took place nearly five years ago in Louisville, Kentucky.
“I am coming for destruction. I have my grown woman strength and I am ready to put these hands on her and get that lick back that I have been waiting to do,” said Baumgardner at the Matchroom Boxing press conference.
Linardatou relishes the opportunity to prove her victory in 2018 was not a fluke.
“I always fight hard from first to last bell, because I am the underdog and I know I must go and get it. I have many skills, but I need to be dog and go and get it,” Linardatou said.
Las Vegas Heat
Lightweight contenders Frank Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) and Artem Harutyunyan (12-0, 7 KOs) meet on Saturday July 15, at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. Temperatures outside are expected to be above 112 degrees.
Showtime will televise the TGB Promotions fight card.
Martin, a southpaw, outpointed Michel Rivera at the same venue last December. Many expected Rivera to become one of the stars of the lightweight division. Martin controlled the fight and won in convincing fashion with a gritty performance.
“I’m coming for it. I just want a dominant performance. I’m ready for whatever he’s got,” said Martin who trains with Derrick James in Texas. “He’s a come-forward fighter who tries to switch it up and be awkward. If he comes at me too aggressively, then it’s gonna be man down.”
Harutyunyan, an Olympic bronze medalist, hungers for this opportunity to crack the elite list. The undefeated lightweight is from Armenia. All of his fights have taken place in Germany and he is the only fighter to knock out Spain’s Sam Molina.
Armenia has long been a stronghold for very solid fighters.
Martin promises not to under-estimate Harutyunyan.
“Some people don’t respect my opponent because they don’t know who he is, but he’s an Olympic bronze medalist. They try to discredit him because they don’t want to fight me. No matter what, the goal is to dominate,” Martin said.
Also on the card are two fighters who trained with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif.
Elvis Rodriguez (14-1-1, 12 KOs) faces former world titlist Viktor Postal (31-4, 12 KOs) of Ukraine in a super lightweight match set for 10 rounds. Both have sparred each other before.
“My trainer Freddie Roach knows both of us very well. Ultimately that just makes the fight more interesting. Because we both know what to expect out of each other,” said Rodriguez.
Postal agrees with that sentiment and adds he has further inspiration.
“I’m gonna be myself in the ring. I’m always calm and collected in there. I’m going to do my best to raise the flag and represent Ukraine,” said Postal.
Fights to Watch (all times Pacific)
Sat. DAZN  11 a.m. Josh Kelly (13-1-1) vs Gabriel Corzo (18-0).
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Alycia Baumgardner (14-1) vs Christina Linardatou (14-2).
Sat. Showtime 7 p.m. Frank Martin (17-0) vs Artem Harutyunyan (12-0).
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Sweet Revenge for Alycia Baumgardner on a Matchroom Show in Detroit
Freudis Rojas Is Cooking Up a Storm in the Welterweight Division
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Boxing in the U.S. was dormant on Labor Day Weekend, but it was business as usual across the big pond where important shows were staged on the first day of September in Glasgow, Scotland, in Bolton, England, and in Holstebro, Denmark.
Glasgow
In an event that had the flavor of a lifetime achievement award show, former three-division world title-holder Ricky Burns crossed swords with his most prominent Glasgow contemporary, Willie Limond, in a welterweight contest slated for 12 rounds. This was understood to be the farewell fight for both combatants.
Burns, 40, was a solid favorite over Limond, 44. who had fought only three times in the previous six-plus years and purportedly pared off 56 pounds to secure this assignment. And, as expected, it was Burns (pictured on the right) who had his hand raised when the referee waived the contest off at the conclusion of the eighth round.
There was little drama after Burns broke Limond’s nose with a punch in the fourth stanza. The punch unleashed a torrent of blood that coated Limond’s face and chest.
At the end, the gallant Limond (42-6, 13 KOs) announced that he was finally done with boxing. Ricky Burns (45-8-1, 17 KOs) hedged his bet.
“I’ve always said, when I stop boxing, I never want to come back,” said Burns who was making his first appearance in his home city since 2017. “But, if that phone rings, it’s a decent fight and my missus gives me the green light, it’s game on.”
Burns, in the words of Scottish Sun boxing writer Gareth Law, left himself a little bit of wriggle room. For the immediate future, however, Burns intends to switch sports and compete in a HYROX race in October in Birmingham. (HYROX is an indoor sport that combines running with functional workout stations. A variation of a triathlon, it is aimed at physical fitness fanatics.)
In an undercard fight of note, Willie Limond’s 19-year-old welterweight son Jake improved to 5-0 (0) with a 6-round shutout over Stefan Vincent (1-3).
Bolton
Lyndon Arthur, a 32-year-old Mancunian ranked #4 at 175 pounds by the WBO, came back from the brink of defeat to score a tenth-round knockout over Argentina’s Braian Suarez in the featured bout of a Wasserman promotion. Suarez, who was 18-1 with 17 KOs coming in, knocked Arthur down in the waning seconds of round four and had him in dire straits as round five was drawing to a close. But Arthur weathered the storm and ultimately prevailed, putting the Argentine away with a “solar plexus” punch at the 2:55 mark of round 10 in the scheduled 12-rounder.
Lyndon Arthur
It was the fourth straight win for Arthur (23-1, 16 KOs) whose only defeat came when he was stopped by Anthony Yarde in their second encounter. He was plainly losing the fight when he landed his knockout punch. After a delayed reaction, Suarez slumped to the canvas and was counted out.
In the co-feature, which actually went last, Samuel Antwi, a 31-year-old Londoner of Ghanaian extraction, won the vacant BBBofC super welterweight title with a brutal 12^th-round knockout of teak-tough Mason Cartwright.
Antwi (17-2, 8 KOs) had all the best of the early milling. He landed the more damaging punches. But Cartwright (19-4-1), who was making his second stab at this belt, came on strong in the late rounds. In round 12, likely knowing he needed a knockout to win, Cartwright let his guard down and paid the price. Antwi knocked him woozy with a big right hook and followed up with a left-right combination that knocked him out cold.
These fights, both of which provided great drama, aired free in the UK on Channel 5 and were live-streamed elsewhere on DAZN.
Holstebro, Denmark
Copenhagen native Dina Thorslund successfully defended her WBO world bantamweight title and added a second world title belt to her portfolio with a unanimous decision over WBC belt-holder Yuliahn Luna. The scores were 99-91, 98-92, and 97-93.
Dina Thorslund
The undefeated Thorslund, 29, who works as a therapist with disabled children and has a nine-year-old son, advanced her record to 20-0 (8). Mexico’s Luna 29, declined to 25-4-1.
The other bantamweight titlists are England’s 40-year-old Nina Hughes (WBA) who was at the event as a TV commentator, and 36-year-old, UK-based Australian sexpot Ebanie Bridges (IBF).
In an undercard bout of note, Brazil’s Hebert Conceicao improved to 5-0 (3) with a second-round demolition of Polish journeyman Robert Talarek (27-22-3). Conceicao ended his amateur career with a smashing knockout of his Ukrainian opponent in the gold medal round of the Tokyo Olympics.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 250: Liam Smith vs Chris Eubank Jr II in Manchester
England loves boxing.
A rematch between contender Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jr. pits two families enriched in boxing tradition against each other.
It’s a family feud.
The silver-haired Smith (33-3-1, 20 KOs) looks to repeat a blistering performance against Eubank (32-3, 23 KOs) on Saturday, Sept. 2, at AO Arena in Manchester, England. ESPN+ will stream the Boxxer Promotions and Top Rank Promotions card in the USA.
Last January, the two rivals met in the same arena with Smith catching Eubank in the fourth round before unloading on the son of former middleweight and super middleweight champion Chris Eubank. The fight was stopped with Eubank unable to realize he could not defend himself.
“If he makes the same mistakes, I’ll punish him for them,” said Smith at the press conference.
Most boxing fans are unaware that prizefighting began formally in the United Kingdom in the 1600s and continues to thrive. Now the entire world has pro boxers.
In countries like England, Mexico, Russia, Ireland, Japan, Cuba and others the sport of boxing has been entrenched for many generations.
Liam Smith’s family is one of those dripping in boxing blood. He’s one of four Smith brothers involved in professional boxing. Both he and his younger brother Callum Smith are former world titlists and both battled Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Liam may be the toughest of them all.
When Liam Smith fought Canelo it was back in 2016 at super welterweight, he was stopped for the first and only time with a body shot. It remains his only vulnerability but good luck trying to target that area. He battered Jessie Vargas at Madison Square Garden a year ago when Vargas tried.
Eubank, 33, is the son of former middleweight and super middleweight world champion Chris Eubank who fought Nigel Benn and many others during the 1990s. Like his father, he possesses firepower. He formerly held the IBO super middleweight title but will be dropping down again to fight Smith at 160 pounds.
Is the weight drop too much for Eubank?
“It is a new pressure that I have never had to deal with before. But I’m enjoying it,” said Eubank.
During the weigh-in, Smith chided Eubank, apparently playing mind games with his former victim. Will it hurt or help Smith in repeating the knockout victory.
Mikaela Mayer
Former super featherweight champion Mikaela Mayer (18-1, 5 KOs) jumps up to welterweight to fight Italy’s Silvia Bortot (11-2-1, 3 KOs) in a 10-round bout on the undercard of Smith versus Eubank.
Mayer weighed 141 pounds and Bortot 139 for this match that will be shown on ESPN+
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Ricky Burns stands as one of the greatest boxers spawned in Scotland, not on the same level as Hall of Famers Benny Lynch and Ken Buchanan, but arguably on par with Jim Watt and Josh Taylor. As the first fighter from Scotland to win world titles in three weight classes, his legacy is secure.
But Burns, who turned 40 in April, isn’t yet content to rest on his laurels. He returns to the ring on Friday in his native Glasgow with another Glasgow greybeard, Willie Limond, in the opposite corner.
Burns captured his first world title in 2010 as a super featherweight, getting off the deck to upend previously undefeated Roman “Rocky” Martinez in a rousing performance that ranks among the most memorable by a Scotsman in a Glasgow ring. He won the WBO lightweight title the following year and added the vacant WBA 140-pound title in 2016, turning away Italian campaigner Michele Di Rocco.
Di Rocco, 40-1-1 heading in, was hardly as good as his record, but Burns’ triumph was of the nature of an upset. Burns was 3-3-1 in his previous seven which included a gift draw vs Raymundo Beltran and a loss on points to Terence Crawford.
In hindsight, his loss to the brilliant Crawford actually reflects well on him. He took the future pound-for-pound king the distance in a 12-round fight and won a few rounds.
Burns, who was motivated to take up boxing at age 12 after watching “Rocky” movies, insists that Friday’s match will be his final rodeo. “I am getting grief off my family [about fighting again] but have promised them this is going to be my last one,” he told Tyrone Smith of BBB Scotland Sport.
Burns last fought in December of 2021, outpointing Argentina’s Emiliano Dominguez in England. He last fought in Glasgow in March of 2017 when he was shorn of his super lightweight belt in a unification fight with Julius Indongo who won a wide decision.
“It has knawed on him for some time that he never really got to enjoy a proper farewell performance in front of the Scottish fans who provided the soundtrack to the greatest nights of his career,” noted Graeme Macpherson in the (Glasgow) Herald.
Burns sports a record of 44-8-1 (16 KOs). Willie Limond has a near-identical record: 42-5 (13). However, Limond, 44, is older than Burns and he has been even less active. He’s fought only three times since getting stopped in nine frames by Tyrone Nurse in 2016 and none of those bouts were slated for more than six rounds.
A former British and Commonwealth title-holder who has shared the ring with the likes of Amir Khan and Erik Morales, Limond won his first domestic title as a super featherweight. In his last outing in May of last year, he carried 168 pounds, but he bristles at the suggestion that his match with Burns is nothing more than a glorified sparring session between old friends. “I don’t like to lose at anything,” he says. “I don’t even like to lose a coin toss.”
Limond concedes, however, that there’s a fair chance he will gas out. Burns vs Limond is slated for 12 rounds in the welterweight class.
While Limond figures to lose, another Limond figures to uphold the family honor. Willie’s 19-year-old son Jake Limond is on the card in a 6-round welterweight contest. Jake is currently being trained by former world lightweight title-holder Anthony Crolla who defeated his dad in a British lightweight title fight back in 2011.
Fighting the usual suspects (i.e., professional losers), the younger Limond, a welterweight, is 4-0. “He’s more advanced than I was his age,” says the proud papa.
During his long pro career, Ricky Burns has answered the bell for 414 rounds. That puts him at risk of entering his sunset years with neurological deficits that will burden his loved ones.
By and large, the best boxers – and we put Ricky Burns in that category – retire several times before their final farewell. Hopefully Ricky Burns, who recently passed the exam for a professional boxing trainer’s license, will be a man of his word and call it quits after Friday night. We wish him well on Friday and in his future endeavors.
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