BoxingScene.com's Television Pick of The Week - November 30

Three months after narrowly winning the biggest fight of her career, Alycia Baumgardner wants to emphatically end her bout with Elhem Mekhaled on Saturday night. Mekhaled has never been knocked out, but Baumgardner is confident she can stop the challenger for her four championships inside the distance. The 10-round, 130-pound title bout between Baumgardner (13-1, 7 KOs), of Bingham Hills, Michigan, and Mekhaled (15-1, 3 KOs), of Paris, France, will be part of the Amanda Serrano-Erika Cruz undercard at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York (DAZN; 8 p.m. ET).

NEW YORK – Alycia Baumgardner left no doubt whatsoever about the outcome of this 130-pound title fight. Baumgardner dropped Elhem Mekhaled twice during the fourth round, hurt her badly during the seventh round and won their 10-round title unification bout by unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. The 28-year-old Baumgardner became women’s boxing’s fully unified junior lightweight champion by defeating France’s Mekhaled, whose toughness made what was a one-sided fight on the scorecards entertaining.

NEW YORK – Shadasia Green beat the most accomplished opponent of her career Saturday night to move closer to the fight she really wants. Green stopped former IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Elin Cederroos in the sixth round of their WBC 168-pound elimination match on the Amanda Serrano-Erika Cruz undercard at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater. Her victory made Green the WBC’s mandatory challenger for undisputed super middleweight champion Franchon Crews (8-1, 2 KOs), who defeated Cederroos on points last April 30 at Madison Square Garden to become their division’s fully unified champ.

Edgar Berlanga has somewhat been boxing’s version of the “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” of late. After kicking off his career with 16 consecutive first-round KOs, the knockout phenomenon Berlanga has gone the distance in his last four fights, logging in a total of 38 rounds against the likes of Roamer Alexis Angulo, Steve Rolls, Marcelo Esteban Coceres, and Demond Nicholson.

NEW YORK – Alycia Baumgardner’s promoter mentioned four potential opponents for the fully unified 130-pound champion early Sunday morning before Mikaela Mayer’s name came up during a post-fight press conference. Eddie Hearn discussed Baumgardner boxing Hyun Mi Choi (20-0-1, 5 KOs), the WBA’s super featherweight champion in...

There have been a number of sad reports coming out of the world of professional wrestling in recent weeks, with former stars passing away, both during their career and following it.

Former two-time unified heavyweight champion of the world Anthony Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) fights at The O2 in London for the first time since 2016 as he begins life under the tutelage of new head trainer Derrick James. ‘AJ’ returns to the scene of his first World Title win over Charles Martin to face another American contender in Jermaine Franklin (21-1, 14 KOs). Saginaw’s ‘989 Assassin’ pushed Dillian Whyte all the way in a close points loss at Wembley’s OVO Arena last November and is relishing his shot against one of the biggest names in the sport.

NEW YORK – Now that Amanda Serrano has handled her business with Erika Cruz, the seven-division champion can focus on the career-defining fight that awaits her. Promoter Eddie Hearn announced in the ring after Serrano defeated Cruz by unanimous decision that the new undisputed featherweight champion will fight rival Katie Taylor in a lightweight championship rematch May 20 in Dublin. Ireland’s Taylor (22-0, 6 KOs), who edged Serrano (44-2-1, 30 KOs) by split decision last April 30 at a sold-out Madison Square Garden, will fight in her home country for the first time as a professional.

NEW YORK – Amanda Serrano survived one of the toughest tests of her career Saturday night to make history and secure a huge payday for her next fight. One of best female fighters in boxing history got off to a very slow start against a relentless Erika Cruz, who demonstrated remarkable toughness as she fought through a grotesque gash on her forehead for six-plus rounds. Cruz’s constant aggression made matters difficult for Brooklyn’s Serrano, but Serrano still won their 10-round, 126-pound title unification bout by unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater.

Although Edgar Berlanga enjoyed being on the fast track to superstardom, the 168 contender reached an impasse with Bob Arum and Top Rank. As a result, with both sides unable to solve their differences, Top Rank cut him loose, making the 25-year-old one of the most sought out free agents around.

NEW YORK – Skye Nicolson remained undefeated Saturday night by beating an overmatched opponent whose record defied her ineffective, strange style. The 27-year-old Nicholson, a 2021 Olympian from Australia, dealt well with Alvarez’s wild approach and won their 10-round featherweight fight on all three scorecards. Judge Martha Tremblay scored it a shutout for Nicolson (100-90), whereas judge John McKaie scored eight rounds for Nicolson (98-92) and judge Allen Nace credited Nicolson for winning seven rounds (97-93).

Oscar De La Hoya thinks Nate Diaz could use better representation. The Golden Boy Promotions founder and Hall of Fame boxer recently tweeted at Diaz, in effect extending an offer to work with the popular mixed martial arts fighter from Stockton, Calif. Diaz, one of the most familiar faces from...

NEW YORK – Dmitry Bivol isn’t obligated to fight Canelo Alvarez again in the light heavyweight division, let alone at the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds. Alvarez nevertheless hopes Bivol is open to moving down from the light heavyweight maximum of 175 pounds to 168, the division in which the Mexican icon is the undisputed champion. Promoter Eddie Hearn, who works with Alvarez, made it clear during a recent interview with BoxingScene.com, however, that Alvarez hasn’t issued any sort of ultimatum regarding the weight limit for a rematch Alvarez wants to take place in September.

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, the older brother of light heavyweight prospect Tommy Fury, believes his brother will wear down and eventually stop Jake Paul in the later rounds. Fury (8-0, 4 KOs) will collide with Paul (6-0, 4 KOs) on February 26 in Saudi Arabia. Tyson believes his brother...

Unlike most fighters who have found comfort in one particular weight class, Gervonta Davis is seemingly at home no matter where he fights. Initially, after stopping Jose Pedraza dead in his tracks in 2017 to claim the IBF super featherweight title, Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) has gone on to handle business at 135 pounds. But, on a whim, Davis made the bold move to 140 pounds in 2021, serving up a knockout victory against Mario Barrios while relieving him of his WBA "Regular" super lightweight title.

Richardson Hitchins feels like he has already beaten comparable or better opponents than John Bauza. Hitchins thinks three of his past four victories confirmed that he is more than ready to battle the unbeaten Bauza on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York. Brooklyn’s Hitchins (15-0, 7 KOs) believes Bauza (17-0, 7 KOs) has much more to prove than him entering a 10-round junior welterweight fight that DAZN will stream as part of the Amanda Serrano-Erika Cruz undercard (8 p.m. ET).

Otto Wallin won another fight on January 27 in what has become a tedious process to remain active while the heavyweight contender’s promoter attempts to land him another high-profile opportunity. The Swedish southpaw defeated Mexican veteran Helaman Olguin by unanimous decision in a non-televised eight-rounder in Windham, New Hampshire....

Eddie Hearn apparently has no patience these days for anyone lampooning the frontrunner to become Anthony Joshua’s next opponent. Jermaine Franklin, the heavyweight contender from Saginaw, Michigan, is slated to face London’s Joshua, the former unified heavyweight champion, in April. Promoted by Dmitry Salita, the 29-year-old Franklin made...

As BoxingScene.com recently reported, Callum Smith fights in Liverpool for the first time since 2019 when he faces undefeated world-ranked Pole Pawel Stepien at the M&S Bank Arena on Saturday March 11, live worldwide on DAZN (excluding Australia and New Zealand). The WBC’s No.1 ranked light heavyweight Smith (29-1, 21...

One of the sport’s most promising young stars will return to a familiar site in his quest to become a two-division titlist. The upcoming vacant WBO flyweight title fight between Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez and Mexico’s Cristian Gonzalez is set to take place April 8 on DAZN from Tech Port Arena in Rodriguez’s hometown of San Antonio. The venue was confirmed by Matchroom Boxing on Monday as part of its full schedule reveal through mid-May.