Boxing

8:55 AM ET During his youth in Dagestan, Artur Beterbiev read a book on the sport of boxing that he still remembers to this day — and one line in particular. “I read it as a child, and it was advice for a young boxer,” Beterbiev told ESPN. “It had an idea in the book

9:18 AM ET Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Maurice Hooker grew up roughly 15 minutes from each other in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This weekend, they will continue to pursue the same dream they’ve lived for most of their lives, as they fight one another in a high-stakes boxing clash. But this night will be different,

6:00 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 Lawrence Okolie’s first world title fight on Saturday comes as part of a busy month for the cruiserweight boxer, whose forthcoming book follows the

7:48 AM ET Canelo Alvarez defended his two super middleweight titles with a dominant victory over mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim on Feb. 27. Alvarez started fast and forced Yildirim to retire in his corner at the end of Round 3. That victory put Alvarez in position to face WBO world titlist Billy Joe Saunders on

8:39 AM ET After a few eventful days in the boxing world, attention has turned back towards Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua with the announcement that the two heavyweight world titlists have signed a two-fight deal. A few big questions remain, including where and when the first fight will take place. And despite a two-fight

7:49 AM ET Claressa Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and now two-division undisputed champion, is ESPN’s new No. 1 women’s pound-for-pound fighter. Shields dominated Marie-Eve Dicaire in a 10-round unanimous decision victory to unify all four major junior middleweight belts on March 6. Shields had already collected all four middleweight world titles with a

12:14 AM ET WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade will defend his title April 17 against mandatory challenger Liam Williams at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, Andrade’s promoter, Matchroom, announced Saturday night. The fight, which will air on DAZN, will be Andrade’s first in 15 months, since he landed a ninth-round technical

10:36 AM ET Mark KriegelESPN After months of arduous negotiations between competing promoters and rival champions, the contract for a two-fight deal between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua to unify the heavyweight titles has been finally signed. “We’d like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month,” said Eddie Hearn, managing director of

11:05 AM ET The long-rumored, long-discussed clash of British heavyweights is finally signed, with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua set to clash for all four world titles and the crown of undisputed champion. It’s never happened in the four-belt era, and the last person to be called the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world was

1:14 AM ET Who says sequels can’t top the original? It did Saturday night when Juan Francisco Estrada defeated Roman “Chocalatito” Gonzalez by split decision in an extremely close Fight of the Year quality bout at American Airlines Arena in Dallas to win the WBA, WBC, and The Ring magazine junior bantamweight titles. Eight years

5:42 PM ET The WBA announced on Sunday they are temporarily suspending judge Carlos Sucre, pending an evaluation, after his outlier scorecard for Saturday’s junior bantamweight world title unification fight between Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. Sucre scored the fight 117-111 for Estrada, who won the fight by split decision. Jesse Reyes scored

12:01 AM ET Mark KriegelESPN The great fighter retires with his fortune and his faculties intact. Then he stays retired — resisting the urgings of the promoters, the public and the ferocious power of his own ego that which made him great in the first place. It’s boxing’s most unlikely story. And its happiest. And

7:53 PM ET “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler died at the age of 66 on Saturday. The Boxing Hall of Famer and sports icon was known as one of the best middleweight fighters in the sport’s history. Hagler became the undisputed middleweight champion in 1980 and defended the crown 12 times, until his defeat against “Sugar” Ray

3:10 AM ET Ben Baby Close ESPN Staff Writer ESPN Staff Writer Previously a college football writer for The Dallas Morning News University of North Texas graduate Cameron Wolfe Close ESPN Staff Writer Covered the Broncos for two seasons with the Denver Post Graduate of the University of Houston A native of Jackson, Miss. Juan

7:45 PM ET Associated Press Marvin Hagler, the middleweight boxing great whose title reign and career ended with a split-decision loss to “Sugar” Ray Leonard in 1987, died Saturday. He was 66. Wife Kay G. Hagler confirmed the death on Facebook on the verified Marvelous Marvin Hagler Fan Club page. “I am sorry to make

6:13 PM ET Tyson Fury’s heavyweight unification fight against Anthony Joshua is not a done deal, according to an interview Fury on Friday. “I’m not training anymore,” Fury told Alex Steedman and Barry Jones on a Top Rank broadcast on ESPN+. “I’m not training no more. I’ve never stopped training since December 2017, and even

7:56 AM ET Juan Francisco Estrada was only 22 years old the first time he faced Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. He was still learning about what kind of boxer he was, and he took a big chance against a guy who was already building his legend, owner of a junior flyweight world title and a record

7:14 AM ET Kathleen McNamee This article is part of ESPN’s coverage of Women’s History Month. When Natasha Jonas met Ireland’s Katie Taylor at the 2012 London Olympics, the stadium was quite literally rocking. At 113.7 decibels the noise was as loud as a rock concert, which happens to be four decibels greater than the