7:15 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Welterweight world titleholders Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter have talked about their desire to unify belts and now they will get their chance — against each other in a highly significant fight. They will square off on Sept. 28 at Staples Center in Los Angeles in the main

7:00 AM ET Unified lightweight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, the pound-for-pound king, can move a step closer to becoming the undisputed champion when he returns to the site of his second Olympic gold-medal victory. Lomachenko, the owner of two 135-pound belts, will defend those titles and compete for the belt vacated by Mikey Garcia when

1:49 AM ET Steve KimESPN OXON HILL, Maryland — There weren’t the usual fireworks from Teofimo Lopez, but he did enough Friday night to beat the tall and lanky Masayoshi Nakatani in his first bout to go the 12-round distance. Lopez (14-0, 11 KOs) won by scores of 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109. It wasn’t a

2:34 PM ET After appearing at the final prefight news conference Wednesday, welterweight John Molina withdrew from his bout with Sergey Lipinets on Thursday night because of a back problem. “Very frustrated right now. My back went out last night,” Molina told ESPN in a text message Friday. Molina was due to fight former junior

10:43 AM ET Welterweight contender Jose Benavidez Jr. has suffered a leg injury in training, forcing him to postpone his fight with former world titlist Luis Collazo next month. Collazo and Benavidez were due to meet in a 10-round fight in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Aug. 17

2:51 PM ET LAS VEGAS – Welterweight contender Yordenis Ugas said he has put the disappointment of losing a disputed split decision for a world title in March behind him as he looks ahead to the opportunity to earn another shot on Saturday. “I’m really happy to get a second opportunity to earn a world

11:50 AM ET Light heavyweight world titlist Sergey Kovalev is going home and could not be happier about it. When talks for a Sept. 14 title defense against middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez stalled, Kovalev’s overdue mandatory defense against Anthony Yarde was finalized and on Thursday promoter Main Events made the fight official. Los Angeles-based Kovalev

8:53 AM ET A yellowing copy of a newspaper article hangs on the wall of St. Pete Boxing Club. The headline reads: “Young boxer navigating a narrow path.” This follows: “Keith Thurman, 15, is focused on being one of the few to reach the Olympics, school a lower priority.” Thurman is 30 years old now,

10:23 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Welterweight world titlist Keith Thurman showed off his confidence on Wednesday during the final pre-fight news conference inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena ahead of his showdown with legend Manny Pacquiao. Thurman said he will lay down bets on himself at the MGM sports book to score a knockout

3:01 PM ET Heralded two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez is set for his long-awaited professional debut. Ramirez, who defected last year after he left a Cuban national team training camp in Mexico and signed with Top Rank in May, will turn pro against an opponent to be determined on the Top Rank Boxing

10:34 AM ET Steve KimESPN LAS VEGAS — Still just 21, Teofimo “The TakeOver” Lopez has a three-fight plan to end his run at 135 pounds as the undisputed champion of the world. First, Lopez (13-0, 11 KOs) will face Masayoshi Nakatani (18-0, 12 KOs) in an IBF lightweight title eliminator bout Friday (ESPN+, 10

9:00 AM ET Steve Kim Anthony Olivieri On July 20, Manny Pacquiao, 40, faces welterweight titlist Keith Thurman, who is a decade younger. Thurman, who hadn’t fought in nearly two years, survived his last fight against Josesito Lopez. The aging Pacquiao, for his part, will be fighting for the second time this year. We asked

9:00 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman will collide for the WBA world welterweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday

6:47 PM ET Former welterweight world titlist Luis Collazo and former world title challenger Jose Benavidez Jr. will meet on Aug. 17 in the 10-round main event of the first boxing event scheduled to take place at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, Top Rank announced on Monday. The Top Rank Boxing on

5:37 PM ET Pernell Whitaker, a longtime pound-for-pound king and one of the greatest boxers in history, was killed Sunday night when he was hit by a car in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was 55. The Virginia Beach Police Department said the incident remains an active investigation but that Whitaker was apparently hit by a

3:49 PM ET Pound-for-pound legend Pernell Whitaker, who died Sunday night at age 55 after being hit by car at a Virginia Beach, Virginia, intersection, was a dazzling fighter, perhaps the greatest defensive wizard of all time, and the pound-for-pound king for much of the 1990s. In the amateur ranks, he won a 1984 Olympic

9:29 AM ET Associated Press Gafur Rakhimov, a businessman with alleged links to organized crime, resigned Monday as president of the International Boxing Association after his tenure played a role in the body being stripped of the right to organise Olympic boxing events. The Uzbekistani became interim president of AIBA in January 2018 and was

11:21 AM ET Rising featherweight star Shakur Stevenson made a triumphant homecoming as he blew out Alberto Guevara in a dominant third-round knockout performance Saturday night in Newark, New Jersey, to retain his regional belt and move to the precipice of a shot at a world title. Fighting before a partisan crowd of 5,150 in