(Nov. 7, 2022) — Featherweight contender Michael “Mick” Conlan looks to shine in his Belfast homecoming when he battles French veteran Karim Guerfi on Saturday, Dec. 10, at The SSE Arena.

Conlan-Guerfi and undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ starting at 1:15 p.m. ET/10:15 a.m. PT. The Belfast bonanza kicks off a fistic marathon on the ESPN family of networks. Conlan-Guerfi precedes “Heisman Night” from Madison Square Garden featuring the junior welterweight main event between former lightweight king Teofimo Lopez and former two-weight world champion Jose “Sniper” Pedraza.

Conlan (17-1, 8 KOs) returns for his second Belfast block party since his valiant challenge of WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood in March. The two-time Irish Olympian was leading on the scorecards before being knocked out in the 12th round. In August, he returned to his winning ways with a one-sided decision over three-time world title challenger Miguel Marriaga at The SSE Arena. Guerfi (31-6, 9 KOs), from Manosque, France, is a former two-division European champion coming off a decision win over Mexican veteran Ricardo Mercado in July.

Undercard standouts include a trio of undefeated Top Rank-signed prospects: junior middleweight Kieran Molloy (3-0, 2 KOs) and featherweight Kurt Walker (4-0, 1 KO) will see action in six-rounders, while rising welterweight Paddy Donovan (9-0, 6 KOs) aims for his third victory of the year in an eight-rounder.

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Lawrence Okolie made the 2nd defense of the WBO Cruiserweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Michal Cieslak at the 02 Arena in London, England.

In round five, Okolie dropped Cieslak with an overhand right to the head.

Okolie landed 125 of 466 punches; Cieslak was 55 of 313.

Okolie, 199.3 lbs of Hackney, ENG won by scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 and is now 18-0. Cieslak, 199.5 lbs of Radom, POL is 21-2.

Yafai stops Bautista in 5

2021 Olympic Gold Medal winner Galal Yafai made a successful pro debut with a 5th round stoppage over Carlos Vado Bautista in a scheduled 10-round flyweight bout.

Yafai beat up Bautista over the course of the fight. In round five, Yafai landed a straight left that sent Bautista down, and the fight was stopped.

Yafai, 111.5 lbs of Birmingham, ENG is 1-0 with one knockout. Bautista, 109 1/2 lbs of Mexico City is 10-5-1.

Gill stops Guerfi in 9

Jordan Gill stopped Karim Karim Guerfi in round nine of their featherweight bout

It seemed liked it would be Guerfi’s night as in round seven, Guerfi sent Gill to the canvas with a starlight right hand. In round nine, Gill landed a big right that sent Guerfi crashing down on his back and he was out at 2:59.

Gill, 126 lbs of Chatteris, ENG is 27-1-1 with eight knockouts. Guerfi, 125.3 lbs of Manosque, FRA is 30-6.

Fowler Decisions Maciej

Anthony Fowler won a 10-round unanimous decision over Lukasz Maciej in a middleweight fight.

Fowler, 163.5 lbs of Liverpool, ENG won by scores of 99-91, 99-92 and 99-93 and is now 16-2. Maciej, 163.6 lbs of Lublin, POL is 27-4-1,

Wardley Stops Martz in 2

Fabio Wardley remained undefeated with a 2nd round stoppage over Daniel Martz in a scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout.

In round two, Wardley dropped Martz with an overhand left-right combination. Wardley scored a 2nd knockdown when he landed a left to the side of the head, and the fight was stopped at 30 seconds.

Wardley, 234.5 lbs of Ipswitch, ENG is 13-0 with 12 knockouts. Martz, 266.2 lbs of Clarksburg, WV is 20-10-1.

Hatton Stops Ducker in 6

Campbell Hatton remained undefeated with a 6th and final round stoppage over Joe Ducker in a lightweight bout.

Hatton dominated the action until the bout was stopped at 2:23.

Hatton, 136.2 of Manchester, ENG is 6-0 with two knockouts. Ducker, 136.7 lbs of Loughbrough, ENG is 9-9-2.

Jordan Gill is hoping to put a frustrating 2021 behind him when he clashes with European Featherweight Champion Karim Guerfi on the undercard of Lawrence Okolie’s WBO Cruiserweight World Title defence against Michael Cieslak at The O2 in London this Sunday February 27, live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia).

‘The Thrill’ (26-1-1, 7 KOs) was originally scheduled to face Frenchman Guerfi on the undercard of Conor Benn vs. Chris Algieri at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on December 11, but the two-weight European Champion was forced to withdraw from their Merseyside showdown due to an illness.

Gill suffered a horrific cut in the third round of his eight rounder with late stand in opponent Alan Luques Castillo – the 27-year-old was forced to accept a technical draw after the gruesome head clash. The Chatteris man is aiming to kickstart his World Title push by dethroning 34-year-old Guerfi in his first fight for 2022. 

“I remember laying on the bed and getting stitches afterwards,” said Gill. “It was one of those things that could have happened to anyone at any time. It’s unfortunate that it happened to me. It was a nasty head clash – there was no way the fight was going to continue. When they stitched my head up, they stitched around the artery – it was that deep! It’s lucky that it was on my head and not my face, otherwise it would have been a plastic surgery job. It’s good in one way, bad in another. 

“I had a week off and then I was straight back in the gym, keeping fit and keeping my mind active. I knew I was always going to be Mandatory for the European Title. It wasn’t a fight lost because of the technical draw. All in all it was a frustrating 2021 but that’s behind us now and we look forward. 2022 is our year, I’m looking forward to this fight and pushing on to bigger and better things. 

“He’s a very good fighter, you can’t take that away from him. I fully respect him – he’s the champion. He did it against the odds, he’s been to the champion’s backyard and won the Title. He’s very experienced and he’s coming to the latter stages of his career. He’s had some big fights, I think he’s a four or five time European Champion. He’s established and he’s a very good pro. I’m looking forward to mixing it with him.

“As the fight gets nearer, I’m thinking of new ways to beat him. I’m thinking of new things to add to my game. We’re not so much preparing for Guerfi, but we’re preparing myself for the best that I can be. I’m looking forward to the fight. I feel like it has been a long time coming. This is my life. I dedicate my life to boxing. I take myself away from my family. I’m here in Rotherham, working every day. This European Title fight means everything to me, my family and the area that I’m representing. 

“I think I’m going to put on an absolute masterclass and stop Guerfi mid to late rounds and I’m going to push on, beat up that dosser Isaac Lowe and get a World Title shot. Guerfi is ranked 10^th or 11^th with the WBC. We’ve just got a new WBC Featherweight Champion. I know he’s got to fight his Mandatory for his first defence but after that I can get the winner.”

Gill vs. Guerfi is part of a huge night of Title action, Hackney’s WBO Cruiserweight World Champion Lawrence Okolie (17-0, 14 KOs) makes the second defence of his crown against Poland’s former World Title challenge Michal Cieslak (21-1, 15 KOs), Tokyo Olympic Champion Galal Yafai makes his highly anticipated professional debut in a ten round fight for the vacant WBC International Flyweight Title against Mexico’s Carlos Vado Bautista (10-4-1, 3 KOs) Liverpool Middleweight Anthony Fowler (15-2, 12 KOs) faces Poland’s Lukasz Maciec (27-3-1, 5 KOs) over ten rounds, unbeaten Ipswich Heavyweight Fabio Wardley (12-0, 11 KOs) takes on the USA’s Daniel Martz (20-9-1, 17 KOs) over ten rounds, Tokyo Olympian Cheavon Clarke makes his professional debut at Cruiserweight against Croatia’s Toni Visic (20-29-2, 5 KOs), Lightweight prospect Campbell Hatton (5-0, 1 KO) clashes with Joe Ducker (9-8-2, 2 KOs) over six rounds, Takeley Light-Heavyweight John Hedges (4-0) meets Aleksander Nagolski (2-1, 1 KO) over six rounds and Australian Heavyweight contender Demsey McKean (20-0, 13 KOs) takes on Argentina’s Ariel Esteban Bracamonte (11-6, 6 KOs) over eight rounds. 

(March 16, 2021) — Bantamweight phenom Lee McGregor has captured British and Commonwealth titles. He is now ready to conquer Europe. McGregor, from Edinburgh, Scotland, will challenge European bantamweight champion Karim Guerfi in a 12-round showdown this Friday, March 19 from University of Bolton Stadium in Bolton, England.
 
Guerfi-McGregor will headline a card streaming live and exclusively in the United States on ESPN+ starting at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.
 
Guerfi (29-4, 9 KOs), from Manosque, France, is a three-time European bantamweight champion who challenged for an interim flyweight world title in 2012. He has not fought since November 2019, when he knocked out countryman Georges Ory in nine rounds. Guerfi has won his last three European bantamweight title bouts, all by knockout. McGregor (9-0, 7 KOs) captured the Commonwealth bantamweight crown in October 2018 in just his fifth pro bout, knocking out Thomas Essomba in the 12^th round. He unified the British and Commonwealth crowns in November 2019 with a razor-thin split decision over Ukashir Farooq. McGregor returned from a career-long layoff last August and stopped Ryan Walker in five rounds.
 
In other streaming action:

• The streaking Maxi Hughes (22-5-2, 4 KOs) will battle Belfast veteran Paul Hyland Jr. (20-2, 7 KOs) in a 12-rounder for the vacant British lightweight title. Hughes has scored upset victories in his last two bouts with decisions over the previously unbeaten Viktor Kotochigov and former world title challenger Jono Carroll. Hyland is coming off a June 2019 knockout loss to Francesca Patera for the European lightweight title.
   
• Belfast-born super middleweight contender Padraig “The Hammer” McCrory (11-0, 5 KOs) will fight fellow unbeaten Germaine Brown (9-0, 3 KOs) in an eight-rounder. McCroy is coming off last September’s first-round blitzing of the normally durable Mickey Ellison.
   
• In an eight-round junior welterweight bout, Jamie Robinson (10-4-1, 3 KOs), winner of four straight, will look to make it five in a row against Billy Allington (8-1-2).
   
• Undefeated junior middleweight prospect Eryk Apresyan (7-0, 5 KOs) makes his UK debut against Nathan Bendon (3-3-1, 1 KO) in a six-rounder.
   
• The ESPN+ stream is scheduled to start with the return of junior featherweight prospect Shabaz Masoud (7-0, 1 KO) against nine-year veteran Louis Norman (14-8-1, 2 KOs) in a six-rounder.

 
About ESPN+
ESPN+ is the industry-leading sports streaming service that offers fans in the U.S. thousands of live sports events, original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks and exclusive editorial content from dozens of ESPN writers and reporters. Launched in April 2018, ESPN+ has grown to more than 12.5 million subscribers.
 
Fans sign up to ESPN+ for just $5.99 a month (or $59.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com or on the ESPN App (mobile and connected devices). It is also available as part of The Disney Bundle offer that gives subscribers access to Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu (ad-supported) — all for just $12.99/month.