Your fight-size boxing update:
- Top Rank Boxing has announced that it has signed 16-year-old Puerto Rican amateur standout Xander Zayas. Zayas becomes the youngest fighter ever to sign with Top Rank.
- Below is the running order for the March 15 Matchroom Boxing USA on DAZN card from Philadelphia:
Undercard 7 p.m. ET:
- Daniyar Yeleussinov vs. Silverio Ortiz
- Raymond Ford vs. Weusi Johnson
- Luke Campbell vs. Adrian Yung
Main Card 9 p.m. ET:
- Gabriel Rosado vs. Maciej Sulecki
- Katie Taylor vs. Rose Volante
- Tevin Farmer vs. Jono Carroll
Below are the non-televised fights:
- D'Mitrius Ballard vs. Victor Fonseca
- Hank Lundy vs. Avery Sparrow
- John Joe Nevin vs. Andres Figueroa (FLOAT BOUT)
- Fightful was sent the following press release regarding Bruno Vifuavili's win over Joel Brunker from this past weekend and what is next for Vifuavili:
Tanzania's Bruno Vifuavili pulled off what many saw as a massive upset last Friday evening, as he overcame the challenge of the experienced Joel Brunker.
Brunker was the heavy favourite going into their IBF Pan Pacific Super Featherweight title fight at the Windsor Function Centre, but Wifuavili pulled off the shock upset, as he controlled the fight from the offset, and many neutral observers saw Wifuavili as the clear winner. The judges agreed as Vifuavili, who was awarded the unanimous decision victory, joined an elite class that includes former IBF World Champion Lee Selby and current IBF World Champion Josh Warrington.
The Tony Tolj guided Vifuavili opened up on his feelings at beating the highly rated Brunker and what this means for his career going forward.
The Tanzanian native said, "Winning this title was a dream come true for me, but let me know it is just the start of a special journey.
“Joel Brunker is a world class fighter, and I believe I have proved that I am on that level now, as I felt I dominated the fight. I boxed when I wanted to box and had a war when I wanted to have a war. Joel is a great man, and I want to thank him for the opportunity.”
Manager Tony Tolj opened up on his charges Vifualivi options now going forward and reflects on his excellent performance.
Tolj said, “I thought Bruno was exceptional. It was a dominant but excellent win against a top fighter in Joel Brunker. My friend Cicillio Flores from Oxnard says iron sharpens iron. Bruno spars with the likes of the Moloney twins, Billel Dib and Furkan Demirkaya and this work is what has upped his level and it showed against Joel.”
Tolj continued, outlining his plans for Vifualivi going forward, “Bruno is in his early twenties and after that performance, he should enter the IBF ratings. We want to fight the best and if anybody who is rated above us in the ratings wants the fight, we will take it with open arms.
“We would love to fight the winner of Farmer vs Carroll, but anybody who is rated above Bruno we will come to your backyard and get the win.”
- MTK Global won the purse bid for the EBU European flyweight title fight between titleholder Vincent Legrand and Jay Harris.
- There was a fight between Masamichi Yabuki and Ryuto Oho that was originally scheduled for March 21, but the fight has since then been delayed until May 1. The reason for the change in date is becuase Oho suffered an injury on March 4. The fight will now be on the undercard of the Japanese featherweight title bout between Taiki Minamoto and Reiya Abe.
- Will Nasio will fight Herman Purcell for the Australasian heavyweight title on July 13.
