By Jim Dower: Earlier today on Monday morning, the World Boxing Council officially ruled out former two-time world title challenger Willie Monroe Jr. as the opponent for interim WBC middleweight … continue
By Allan Fox: Matt Korobov will be dropping down from super middleweight to take on interim WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo next Saturday at a weight of 160 pounds as … continue
By Dan Ambrose: WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez (20-0, 17 KOs) will be making his second defense of his title against 35-year-old 2008 Olympian Matt Korobov ( 28-1, 14 KOs) on July 28 on the undercard of lightweight unification fight between WBC champion Mikey Garcia and Robert Easter Jr. at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The fight is being finalized, according to Dan Rafael.
By Dan Ambrose: Former middleweight world title challenger Matt Korobov (27-1, 14 KOs) plans on being active in 2018 by fighting 3 times. Korobov didn’t fight at all in 2017, and he hasn’t fought since defeating journeyman Scott Sigmon by an 8 round unanimous decision in November 2016.
By Patrick McHugh: Former WBO light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (35-4, 24 KOs) will be fighting this Saturday night on June 25 against Josh Torres (15-4-2, 7 KOs0 at the Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas. This will be the second fight for the 35-year-old Alvarado for what some boxing fans see as a comeback from three consecutive losses he suffered 2013 to 2015.
Alvarado was out of the ring for over a year after his 3rd round knockout to Brandon Rios in January 2015 to March 2016, when he came back to defeat journeyman Saul Corral by a third round knockout.
Alvarado is said to have his head on straight now and is in great condition to get his career back on track to where it was four years ago before things soured for him. Torres, 26, doesn’t have the kind of talent to give Alvarado any problems in this fight.
By Patrick McHugh: 35-year-old former WBO light welterweight champion Mike “Mile High” Alvarez (35-4, 24 KOs) will be fighting in less than two weeks from now on June 25 against Josh Torres (15-4-2, 7 KOs) in a fight scheduled for eight rounds at The Bomb Factory, in Dallas, Texas. The fight card will be televised on UniMas at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Alvarado was a pretty good fighter from the start of his career in 2004 to 2012. However, Alvarado’s career started to go downhill in October 2012 in losing his first fight of his career to Brandon Rios by a 7th round knockout.
By Patrick McHugh: 33-year-old former world title challenger Matt Korobov (25-1, 14 KOs) will be trying to keep his career alive next month against 34-year-old journeyman Bryan Vera (23-10, 14 KOs) on June 25 on the Mike Alvarado vs. Josh Torres fight card at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas.
Korobov will be fighting at super middleweight rather than middleweight. It remains whether he’ll be stronger at this weight.
The fight will be the second for Korobov since he was stopped in the 6th round by Andy Lee in December 2014. That was a bout in which Korobov was ahead in the 6th round when he was caught by a hard right hook from Lee and then taken out with a flurry of heavy shots.
By Dan Ambrose: #12 WBO middleweight contender Matt Korobov (24-1, 14 KOs) has pulled out of his October 24th fight against journeyman Josue Obando (13-7-1, 10 KOs) for unknown reasons. Korobov was scheduled to fight on Obando on the undercard of the Terence Crawford vs. Dierry Jean fight at the CenturyLink Center, in Omaha, Nebraska.
Korobov, 32, hasn’t fought since losing to Andy Lee by a 6th round knockout last December. Korobov was well ahead of Lee at the time of the stoppage. Korobov’s promoters at Top Rank aren’t giving a reason as of yet why Korobov pulled out of the Obando fight.
By Scott Gilfoid: IBF cruiserweight champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez (29-1, 14 KOs) will be defending his title against IBF interim champion and former WBO belt holder Victor Emilio Ramirez (22-2, 17 KOs) on October 2nd in Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to news from Dan Rafael. This venue will give the 31-year-old Ramirez the home country advantage, which might help him a bit but not a whole lot.
Ramirez is a pretty primitive fighter in the Marco Huck mold, and he’s very beatable against certain types of fighters. Huck was able to beat Ramirez at his own game in defeating him by a 12 round unanimous decision to take his WBO cruiserweight title in 2009 in a slugfest.
By Dan Ambrose: 33-year-old former world title challenger Alfredo Angulo (23-5, 19 KOs) has been added to the Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares card on August 29th on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Angulo will be fighting a still to be determined opponent in the 168lb division.
Angulo has lost 3 out of his last 4 fights, and has looked incredibly bad. Angulo won his last fight against Delray Raines by a 5th round knockout last June at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.