By Jim Dower: #1 WBC Dejan Zlaticanin (22-0, 15 KOs) proved to have too much for #5 WBC Franklin Mamani (21-3-1, 12 KOs) in stopping him in the 3rd round on Saturday night to capture the vacant WBC lightweight title at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, in Verona, New York, USA.
(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME) By Patrick McHugh: Former WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (25-4, 18 KOs) successfully made weight on Friday for his 12 round fight against the hard hitting slugger John Molina Jr. (28-6, 23 KOs) for their fight this Saturday night on Showtime Championship Boxing at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, in Verona, New York.
Provodnikov weighed in right at the light welterweight limit at 140 pounds. Molina came in at 140lbs as well. This is a decent main event fight. It’s not great but it’ll be entertaining.
By Allan Fox: #2 WBO, #3 WBA light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (25-4, 18 KOs) will be back inside the ring this Saturday night against #8 WBO John Molina Jr. (28-6, 23 KOs) on Showtime at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, in Verona, New York, USA.
This would have been a good fight several years ago when Molina was still fighting at a high level, but he’s 33 now and his career has downhill lately with him losing three out of his last four fights in the last two years since 2014.
NEW YORK (June 2, 2016) – WBC No. 5-ranked lightweight contender Franklin Mamani will face No. 1-ranked lightweight Dejan Zlaticanin for the vacant WBC 135-pound title on Saturday, June 11, live on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) from The Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y.
Mamani (21-2-1, 12 KOs), who is the leading available contender in the WBC rankings, replaces the injured Emiliano Marsili, who pulled out of the fight on Tuesday with an illness.
By Jeff Aranow: WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares (40-3, 27 KOs) is currently out of action with a fractured hand. With Linares unable to fight, the World Boxing Council has ordered #1 WBC Dejan Zlaticanin (21-0, 14 KOs) to face unbeaten #2 WBC Emiliano Marsili (32-0-1, 14 KOs) for the WBC interim lightweight title.
The winner of the Zlaticanin-Marsili fight will then face WBC champion Linares as soon as his fractured hand heals up enough for him to return to the ring.
By Allan Fox: WBC lightweight champion Jorge Linares (40-3, 27 KOs) suffered a broken right hand earlier this week in training camp for his proposed April title defense against unbeaten #1 WBC Dejan Zlaticanin (21-0, 14 KOs). The injury was confirmed by Linares’ promoters at Golden Boy Promotions.
It’s unfortunate the injury occurred because it was a fight that would have been interesting for the U.S audience, as it would have been televised on Showtime Boxing.
It’s unclear what’s going to happen now. It’ll be up to the World Boxing Council to make a decision. Linares could wind up being given the designation of WBC “Champion in Recess,” which is something the WBC likes to do with their injured champions.
By Dan Ambrose: Today’s purse bid for the Jorge Linares (40-3, 27 KOs) vs. Dejan Zlaticanin (21-0, 14 KOs) fight has reportedly been cancelled, according to the World Boxing Council. Linares’ promoters at Golden Boy and Zlaticanin’s promoters at Dibella Entertainment have reached an agreement to terms for the fight.
The information about when the Linares vs. Zlaticanin fight will take place and where will be announced shortly.
Zlaticanin, 31, is ranked #1 by the WBC, and he’s recently picked up three impressive victories over Ivan Redkach, Alex Bone and Ricky Burns in his last three fights to earn the No.1 spot in the WBC’s rankings.
By Frainy: Boxers all over the world are heavily criticized for being inactive, for shying away from fights or for hand-picking opponents in order to preserve their reputation. Indeed, gone are the days of the top fighters or indeed any fighters fighting over 100 fights in their career.
The sport has become far too physically demanding for this to be possible as well as TV deals and money grabbing promoters heavily influencing the career choices made by those in the upper echelons of the sport.
(Ricky Burns seen here getting rocked by a big left hook thrown by Dejan Zlaticanin in the 1st round) By Scott Gilfoid: Former two division world champion Ricky Burns’ career is in tatters tonight after losing a 12 round split decision to #13 WBC Dejan Zlaticanin (19-0, 13 KO’s) at the Braehead Arena, in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. Zlaticanin knocked Burns to the canvas in the 1st round with a tremendous left hook to the head.
Burns made it back up by the count of 7, but he continued to take big left hooks to the head for the entire fight. The scoring was very, very generous for Burns because he should have arguably lost by 5 rounds on all three of the judges’ score cards. The judges scored it 115-113, 115-113 for Zlaticanin, and 115-113 for Burns. The American and Montenegro judges both had it scored 115-113 for Zlaticanin, whereas the British judge John Keane scored it 115-113 for Burns.
By Scott Gilfoid: After going down to a bitter defeat in his last fight, former WBO lightweight champ Ricky Burns (36-3-1, 11 KO’s) will have his career on the line tonight when he steps inside the ring with southpaw Dejan Zlaticanin (18-0, 13 KO’s).
A win over Zlaticanin probably won’t tell us much about how much Burns has left in the tank, because his promoter Eddie Hearn found the Montenegro native near the bottom of the WBC’s rankings for Burns to have someone that he would have a good chance of beating.