Latest news with #DAZN-streamed
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Edgar Berlanga misses weight for first fight since Canelo Alvarez loss: 'Damn, man — I can't do it'
Edgar Berlanga is 1.6 pounds over the championship limit for his comeback fight. Berlanga tipped the scales at 169.6 pounds in his first attempt at Friday's weigh-in ahead of his WBO NABO super middleweight title bout with Jonathon Gonzalez-Ortiz. Gonzalez-Ortiz successfully made the 168-pound maximum, weighing in at 167.4 pounds. "People don't know, right, but I had the flu," Berlanga said to FightHype about missing weight. "I was struggling with my health, and I knew that at a certain point, I was like, 'Damn, man — I can't do it.'" Berlanga vs. Gonzalez-Ortiz will still go ahead on Saturday night at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, but Berlanga will be ineligible to win the title. Should he emerge victorious, the belt will become vacant. Berlanga vs. Gonzalez-Ortiz is the co-feature of a DAZN-streamed fight card headlined by the Austin "Ammo" Williams (17-1, 12 KOs) vs. Patrice Volny (19-1, 13 KOs) middleweight contest. Elsewhere on the show, 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Omari Jones makes his professional debut at welterweight against Alessio Mastronunzio (14-5, 4 KOs), and Jamaine Ortiz (18-2-1, 9 KOs) faces Yomar Alamo (22-3-1, 13 KOs) in a super lightweight bout. Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) was last in action this past September when he challenged Saul "Canelo" Alvarez for the WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles. Berlanga extended Alvarez the 12-round distance at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas but ultimately lost a lopsided decision on the scorecards. Saturday's bout represents Berlanga's final fight as part of his contract with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing on Saturday. He will then enter free agency in the summer, likely targeting big fights with Caleb Plant, Jermall Charlo and Jaime Munguia. Berlanga has expressed his disappointment at being on the undercard of a relatively smaller show coming off a fight with the sport's biggest star, Alvarez. He blames Hearn's Matchroom for what he has described as a "disrespectful" move. Gonzalez-Ortiz (20-0-1, 16 KOs) had two fights in 2024, a pair of knockouts over Jose Saint-Hilaire Gil and Edward Ulloa Diaz, which ended a 10-year hiatus from the sport. Gonzalez-Ortiz, 35, represented Puerto Rico at the 2008 Olympics. He fought to a draw with former super welterweight world champion Serhiy Dzinziruk in 2012 and has a win over Derek Ennis — the brother of IBF welterweight champion Jaron "Boots" Ennis. Ten years on and two weight divisions up, it is no surprise that he is such a big underdog (+950 per BetMGM) against Berlanga.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Johnny Fisher vs. Dave Allen 2 set for May after controversial first fight
Johnny Fisher and Dave Allen are running it back at the "Copper-Bosh." The British heavyweight duo will rematch on May 17 at London's Copper Box Arena in the main event of a show promoted by Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing, sources close to the situation told Uncrowned. Fisher and Allen meet at a launch press conference scheduled for Friday in London for their DAZN-streamed headliner. Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs) won a controversial split decision over Allen (23-7-2, 18 KOs) to claim the WBA Intercontinental heavyweight championship this past December in Riyadh on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2. "The Romford Bull" started the fight well, controlling the early rounds, however Allen managed to turn the tide in the fifth round, putting Fisher on the canvas and keeping him in major trouble. Allen then dominated the second half of the bout, leaving many without any doubts in their minds that he was a deserved winner after 10 rounds. However, the judges decided differently. Fisher, 26, is one of the biggest ticket-sellers in British boxing, so when his hand was controversially raised against Allen, many criticized the result as another example of the A-side privileges prevailing in boxing — similar to the outcry with Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach this past weekend. When Fisher headlined for the first time in July 2024, almost 7,000 people rammed into the Copper Box to watch him take out Alen Babic in the opening round, a fight that was a low-level mismatch. Allen, 32, looked unimpressive in his previous bout on the big stage before facing Fisher in December. "The White Rhino" lost six rounds fairly comfortably against Frazer Clarke in late 2023 before being pulled out by his trainer, Jamie Moore. He now looks for redemption in May, knowing that another defeat could signal the end of the road for his hopes to be a main player in British boxing's heavyweight division.
